Residents say road commission is taking too long to respond
TRAVERSE CITY -- Many people have been talking about the icy road conditions Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. In fact 7&4 News received nearly 100 emails and Facebook messages asking why the road commission in Grand Traverse County wasn't out salting sooner.
Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Lt. Bryan Marrow says, "We responded to 27 accidents last night."
Viewers identified Long Lake Road, Zimmerman, Barnes, Holiday Road, the hill on M-72 East all in Grand Traverse County, along with Morgan Road in Otsego County as the worst during a snow event.
Grand Traverse County Road Commission Manager, Mary Gillis, says they are aware of these potentionally dangerous roads, but must follow specific routes that can take up to two hours to complete.
The runs are approved by the road commission's board.
Mary Gillis says, "We get to them as soon as we can but at the same time we have a limited number of trucks and a limited number of drivers. We get them out, but typically a run takes 2 hours to go through."
She says the plow drivers are stuck in the same traffic and driving on the same ice as everybody else.
Wednesday night she called in an extra ten drivers to help out.
Gillis says, "Ice is probably the hardest problem we have to deal with because it happens instantly. We can't be everywhere at once. We are out but our trucks are driving on the same ice as all the residents are."
Which roads do you think are the worst during snow storms? Leave your thoughts below.
