Road clearing questions asked

An Odessa resident asked The Record last week, after several inches of snow had fallen, why his early morning trip to a Spokane hospital, where his wife was to have minor surgery, was so treacherous and slow. In Odessa itself, he said, the major streets had been plowed and sanded. As he made his way on SR 28, he noticed that most county roads off to the side had also been tended to. The state road he was traveling, however, was a different story.

Did the state not have enough employees to get the major roadways cleared, he wondered. The Record was unable to answer his questions, and with the busy holidays and a paper to publish each week, getting to the bottom of his concerns was something that fell by the wayside.

Many of Odessa’s streets were never plowed after that first snowfall either, but the town public works crew is short-handed due to the vehicular accident that took one employee out of circulation temporarily. As is the norm in Odessa, so we have witnessed, neighbors have pitched in to help those needing help with snow and ice removal, grocery shopping and other errands. The small-town ethic is alive and well here.

We will endeavor to find some answers for the questions asked, but we all know that Mother Nature is good at throwing us curve balls. Sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all that needs doing.