When Cortez residents were all snuggled in their warm beds over President’s Day Weekend, Cortez road crews were firing up the snowplows at 3 a.m. To remove snow from a series of storms that dropped more than a foot of heavy wet snow over four days.
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When Cortez residents
were snuggled in beds
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during the snow storms that hit the area
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over President’s Day weekend,
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City Of Cortez road crews
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were firing up there snowplows
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at 3 o’clock in the morning
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to start clearing the streets.
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You’re watching the Local News Network,
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brought to you by Keesee
Motors and Big O Tires.
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I’m Wendy Graham Settle.
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A series of storms that fell
over President’s Day week,
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dropped more than a foot of
heavy, wet snow in Cortez.
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But the city’s road
crews were on the spot,
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clearing roads for traffic,
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emergency equipment, and schools.
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Road maintenance crews worked
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more than 300 hours of overtime
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between Valentine’s Day and
the following Wednesday,
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starting their 12-hours shifts
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at 3 in the morning.
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We start with Main Street,
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and once we get Main Street opened up,
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then we start with the rest of the main,
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Mildred, Montezuma,
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and 3rd, then 7th, then Sligo,
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that’s the high school and stuff.
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Get the schools open,
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and then we start spreadin’ out,
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later in the day, out into the suburbs
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and plow them out, if they need it.
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Pubic Works has 3 snowplows
and 6 pickup trucks
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with plows to clear about 50 miles
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of roadway in the city limits.
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They use about 500 tons of sand
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on average each year,
and plow US Highway 160
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through town, from the intersection
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with Colorado Highway 145 on the East
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to Maple Street on the West.
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They try to be courteous and refrain
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from plowing in your driveway.
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But if they do,
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they’re happy to drive
back to clear the way.
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Royce says the snowplow crews start
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early in the morning to avoid traffic,
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but motorists still try to pass them.
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All he asks is that you do it safely,
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and if you don’t, you
could pay a traffic fine.
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There actually is a Colorado
law that’s against that.
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If I got your license plate’s
number and turned you in,
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they’d come and write you a ticket.
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You crowd a snowplow,
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you can get a ticket for that.
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They do it.
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Go around it safe.
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Wait until it’s clear
and you can get around,
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because you’re messin’ with,
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and if they’re throwin’ sand,
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you’re going to get hit with that
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when you try to get by.
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There’s signs on ’em,
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“stay back 50 feet,” for a reason.
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I understand they want to get by,
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but most of the time we can go
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20, 25 mile an hour,
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and that’s the speed in town.
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We don’t have it as bad as
the highway, state guys,
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because all of ours is slow.
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People’s usually pretty good about,
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probably Main Street’s the worst one
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about ’em wantin’ to pass you,
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but it’s big enough they can.
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Cortez averages 49 inches of snow a year.
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Snowfall to date totals nearly 28 inches.
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When the snow falls again,
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rest assured that Royce and his crews
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will be out with their plows
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in the wee hours of the morning.
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They know they got to do their job.
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I got a good bunch of guys.
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You call ’em and they’re here.
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I’m really lucky that way.
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I got a good bunch of guys that
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care about their job and gettin’ it done.
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You get tired, but you
don’t have a choice.
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You got to keep goin’.
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Thanks for watching this edition
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of the Local News Network.
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Stay up to date on the latest news stories
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through Twitter and Instagram,
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or, listen to us on your
favorite podcast app.
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I’m Wendy Graham Settle.
