How bad are the roads today?

[Connonym]

Jefferson County Presidents' Day Dinner is tonight and I'm trying to decide if the roads are good enough to make the trek from Waukesha out to Watertown. Anybody been out? I see that they've canceled the weather advisory but still...

[mcctatas]

1. I was out at 11:30, not too bad then...

of course we've probably gotten another 2 inches on top of the slush that we started out with so I'd go out now or hunker down until the morning (fox valley area)

[saltpoint]

2. Former co-worker from many moons back emailed to announce

that she didn't have to go to her husband's in-laws in Milwaukee today because of the bad roads.

She was elated.

[PeaceNikki]

3. Just got back from a 2 mile round-trip to grocery store.

The standing water is HORRIBLE! And where there isn't standing water deep enough to screw up your steering and possibly flood your car, there's ice.

It's bad. And it'll get far worse when the temp drops a few degrees.

Be VERY VERY careful, please!!

[Connonym]

4. I should probably stay home, eh?

I wouldn't be so nervous except that I have to work tonight when I get home so that means there's not the option of just staying overnight if the roads get too bad.

[PeaceNikki]

5. Looks like the decision's been made for you. It was postponed.

http://www.jeffdems.org/default.htm

Presidents Day Dinner Postponed, New Date of Monday February 18, 2008

Due to weather concerns, the Presidents Day Dinner has been postponed until Monday, February 18. Social hour at 5pm, Dinner at 6pm Spekaers at 7pm at the Plattdeutscher Hall in Watertown. Scheduled speakers are State Representative Andy Jorgenson, Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, State Representative Kim Hixon, and Wisconsin State Treasurer Dawn Sass. For reservations and tickets call Jeff Rammelt at 920-261-3588, or email Jeff at [e-mail]. Tickets are also sold at the door for $20 per person

[Connonym]

6. damn girl, I never even thought of checking!

well that makes my life so much simpler. Boy would I have felt like a dork if I had driven all the way there only to find it was tomorrow night!

[LiberalFighter]

7. Oh come on you all. You are born and bred Wisconsinites!

You aren't as dumb as the Hoosiers here in Indiana are you? Should had been here in Ft Wayne last week. We had flooded roads out in the counties and flooded streets. Then the water froze. That was so much fun especially since I don't live downtown. The numbnuts here close schools when there is just a bit of snow that you all could walk to school.

A few years back (1989) I was coming back from a nomination caucus and it had snowed a bit. One of the people followed me to a meeting we had scheduled after and he tried keeping up. My traction was fine but he was scared trying to drive.

[mcctatas]

8. We natives like to think that we can drive in anything...

but it's the other assholes who can't that keep us off the roads;)

[LiberalFighter]

9. The key is to keep the assholes behind you.

If they are in front of you then they cause all the trouble.

[AdHocSolver]

11. I prefer to let the assholes go ahead of me where I can watch them.

The assholes almost always drive too fast for road conditions. If you are a cautious driver, they will tailgate you, which is maddening when the roads are slippery. I don't care if they speed IF they go around me. But there is sometimes a super asshole who will tailgate you, even when there is room to pass, thinking that you will go faster to suit them.

I remember driving the expressway one night in a really bad snowstorm. Temperature about freezing, snow so heavy that visibility couldn't have been more than 500 feet. I'm driving about 45 MPH in the right lane and fishtailing, struggling to stay on the road, especially after seeing a couple of cars (unoccupied) that had run off the road and gotten stuck in the embankment.

The road was three lanes wide at the point, and I see headlights coming up fast behind me in the third lane. There were five cars tailgating each other at 60 MPH or maybe 65 MPH no more than two car lengths separating them. The last car in the group was a full-size car and had a small compact spare tire on its right front wheel. It took maybe three or four seconds for the taillight of the last car to disappear after it passed me.

Every so often you read about a thirty- or forty vehicle pile up in a storm where the cars or trucks in the rear are tailgating and going too fast. That is why I let them pass me.

[LiberalFighter]

12. I would agree if I had trouble with driving conditions.

But I figure if I am ahead of them and they cause an accident I won't have to worry about it. Otherwise, instead of the delay due to weather conditions the delay may be several hours or longer.

[Connonym]

10. only a couple problems with that theory 1) I'm not a native

2) I normally drive less than 5000 miles a year and 3) I need new tires.

[LiberalFighter]

13. I would be concerned about tire conditions too.

When I know my tires may not be what they should be I am more careful.

Since retirement I've reduced my driving by over 800 miles a month or nearly 10,000 a year.

[Connonym]

14. one of those situations where I know I need new tires

but there's always something else that I need to spend the money on. In other words, I'm you're typical working-class single mom.

[CatholicEdHead]

15. Eventually that decision will be made for you

when the tires start literally falling apart.

[Connonym]

16. unfortunately that seems to be the way it is with all my spending decisions

I can't seem to get ahead. I'm going to have to break down and get a part time job. Not keen on what that will do to my family life.

[TheMightyFavog]

17. Manitowoc County activated the Emergency Alert System over the roads.

They told people to stay off the roads unless it was "a dire emergency."

[PeaceNikki]

18. Is that the community that ran out of salt?

I saw a very interesting story on the news about Beloit using beet juice to treat the roads.

Here's an article about it:
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2008/02/10/news/z3beet_juice.txt

Beloit uses beet juice to treat roads
By GENA KITTNER / Lee Newspapers
It sounds like a chemistry experiment — 80 percent saltwater, 5 percent calcium chloride and 15 percent beet juice.

That’s right, beet juice. And the result of this sweet-and-salty mix, officials say, is a successful solution for treating city streets in bitter cold weather.
“It works fabulously,” said Chris Walsh, operations director for the city of Beloit that has used beet juice on its roads to some degree for seven years. The juice solution lowers the freezing point of brines so they work at temperatures where straight saltwater isn’t effective at melting snow and ice.

It’s also often used to pretreat roads before a storm because it helps the salt and brine stick to roads, she said.

Not only is the beet juice better for the environment, but it also reduces the dependence on road salt — a commodity that’s been hard for some communities to come by this season, she said.

This year, Beloit ordered an additional 4,200 tons of salt and has been able to sell a couple thousand tons to neighboring cities and Rock and Lafayette counties, Walsh said.

The beet juice solution — commercially called Geomelt — uses the juice by-product left over from sugar beets after the sugar has been processed out.

Beloit doesn’t always use the beet juice mix. When temperatures are above 18 degrees the city typically uses straight brine.

“This is environmentally the cutting edge because you’re pretreating and keeping the liquid on the street,” said Larry Arft, Beloit’s city manger. “It is just incredibly effective.”

And yes, the city streets do turn a brownish-red when using the beet juice solution.