More snow means more stress for metro Detroit road crews

Road Commission of Oakland County says drivers are exhausted, budgets are strained

Here we go again.

More snow is on the way and will hit metro Detroit Tuesday evening.

Some communities could get up to six inches by Wednesday afternoon.

If you're tired of it, you can imagine how those who are responsible for cleaning it up are feeling right now.

Craig Bryson, spokesman for the Road Commission of Oakland County, said road crews haven't had a weekend off since before Christmas. They worked almost around the clock last month during the heavy snowfall and won't likely find any relief anytime soon. They're exhausted.

"They're working ridiculous amounts of overtime to try to clean this all up," Bryson said.

The overload is also costly.

The budgets for the area road commissions are being stretched thin from the overtime costs.

Bryson said budgets are planned based on previous winters. Last year, Bryson said, they were under budget.

"It's a constantly fluctuating budget. Winters vary from one extreme to another, and everything in between," he said.

If they go over this winter, Bryson said the cuts will have to come from other places.

Bryson also said the funding coming from the state isn't enough.

"Those revenues decline for most of the last 10 years. They've kind of bottomed out now, but we're still getting less money today than in 1999," he said. "The costs of maintaining the roads have skyrocketed since 1999

But despite the hard work and slim budgets, Bryson said crews will continue to clear the roads to the best of their ability.

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