Jan. 15—PIERRE — The winter of 2022-23 was tough on South Dakota travelers, with several multi-day storms bringing snow, gusty winds and icy conditions that made getting from one place to another extremely difficult, if not impossible in some cases.
It was also tough on the South Dakota Department of Transportation, its employees and its budget.
“The South Dakota Department of Transportation winter maintenance staff, and those behind the scenes, worked countless hours to keep South Dakota’s interstate and state highway system clear and safe in some of the toughest winter weather conditions experienced in recent years,” said Joel Jundt, secretary for the South Dakota Department of Transportation, commented in the department’s latest annual report.
According to the report
, which was released last week, the department of transportation blew past its original winter 2023 budget of $20.5 million in its work to keep roads clear for travelers. The department amended its budget to $33.5 million before tallying a final total of $36.5 million in total winter spending.
The department noted several serious storms occurred in December 2022 and January-through-April 2023 that brought deep snow, high winds and the need for a lot of manpower and materials to handle it all. Dealing with it added up.
Department employees logged about 3.2 million miles with its plow trucks, which nearly doubled the average of 1.4 million miles for the previous two winters. Workers logged 178,000 man hours with the work, over 100,000 man hours over the 77,000 hours reported the previous two winters in South Dakota.
Salt use saw an increase of about 10%, from 62,000 tons to 44,000 tons, and diesel fuel use almost doubled from 540,000 gallons to 1 million gallons. Fuel cost impact was exacerbated by the jump in diesel fuel prices from $1.79 per gallon in fiscal year 2021 to $3.94 per gallon for fiscal year 2023, a cost increase of 220%.
The winter of 2022-23 was atypical in its intensity, even for South Dakota, Jundt said. The department participated in a high number of rescues of stranded motorists, showing travel was difficult and dangerous even for South Dakota drivers who are experienced with winter driving.
“The unique thing about the 2022-23 winter was the duration of the storms that impacted the state. South Dakota experienced several multi-day winter weather events that were very taxing for our employees fighting the elements,” Jundt said. “In addition, our personnel were involved in an unprecedented number of rescue missions to save stranded individuals across our state.”
In the Pierre area alone, department crews participated in over 50 rescue missions during the two storms in December of 2022, as well as assisted hundreds of people when temperatures and wind chills were dipping down to minus-40 degrees.
Along with doing the physical work of removing snow and ice, South Dakota Department of Transportation staffers also worked to communicate advisories, road conditions and closures through its communication arm. Utilizing press releases, social media and the sd511.org and dot.sd.gov websites, the department logged over 7 million social media impressions through its winter weather postings, along with 231,396 calls, over 2 million app sessions and 4.8 million website sessions through SD511.
At dot.sd.gov, the department reported 733,766 unique pageviews and 159,360 unique page views to traveler information pages.
With travelers using the information resources offered by the state, the department elected to establish a one-stop-for-all general winter weather travel page on its website to provide a conduit for official releases on its website.
“The web page was specifically designed to provide one central location of key resources for the traveling public during these massive storms,” Jundt said.
The website
includes the latest press releases from the department, interstate closure and reopening status, as well as photos and videos of department workers performing their tasks to help communicate the seriousness of their work and conditions drivers may face when on the road in the winter.
Winter driving is dangerous, but fatal crashes can occur at any time of year. The department of transportation is also working to reduce general safety on the roads year round, including its Safe Systems Approach, part of an overarching goal the department has dubbed “zero-fatalities.”
Under the Safe Systems Approach, which is expected to be developed and implemented over the course of the next year, the department will focus on six principles:
* Death and serious injuries are unacceptable
* Humans make mistakes
* Redundancy is crucial
* Responsibility is shared
* Humans are vulnerable
In 2019, the department of transportation recorded 102 fatalities and 407 serious injury crashes on South Dakota roads. Since then, the state has averaged 137 deaths each year and over 470 serious injury crashes.
South Dakota Department of Transportation officials say that trend is heading in the wrong direction. But through the Safe Systems Approach and other goals and programs being implemented, officials hope to reduce those numbers in its effort to provide a safe and efficient highway system for South Dakotans.
“Our work toward continuous improvement doesn’t stop. We are focused on the need to continually implement and evaluate systematic processes across our department,” said Kellie Beck, director of finance and management for the department. “Because of the hard work and dedication of our nearly 1,000 South Dakota Department of Transportation employees, we can achieve our mission to efficiently provide a safe and effective transportation system in the state of South Dakota.”
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
