CB slush fest: Town streets wreak havoc for all

The Perfect Storm?

Crested Butte town officials declared the current situation “a cluster.” No one would argue with that assessment of the conditions of the town side streets this past week. Unusually warm temperatures turned the streets into fields of slush that swallowed cars and diverted Mountain Express shuttle buses off their routes, stranding tourists on the east side of town. Delivery trucks got stuck.

Businesses were upset. The Facebook commentary was rampant. It’s not an exaggeration to say any conversation held in town included criticism of the street conditions. By Tuesday afternoon, our neighbors to the south, the city of Gunnison, had sent up extra snow removal equipment to help alleviate the situation.
“I have certainly fielded a lot of calls and it is a bad deal,” said Crested Butte mayor Leah Williams. “Our snow plan was being enforced and with a mix of great snow and warm temperatures, it really turned into a bad situation.”
Crested Butte public works director Rodney Due said his crew ran into the “perfect storm” that caused the mess.
“We started peeling back the snowpack on the streets three weeks ago in February like we always do,” he explained. “There is a method to our madness. We do the east side of town first because that is where the snowmelt drains and we have to make sure [Highway] 135 doesn’t flood.
“In the second week, we got hit with another big snowstorm,” Due continued. “That put our guys out plowing at night and put us behind. And then one of our main operators had back surgery and has been out of commission. We only have four primary operators and to lose one was a big hit, given the conditions. So our guys were focused on plowing instead of peeling and that put us more than a week behind schedule. On top of that, the guys we have that can cross-over and help had educational classes scheduled for the week, so they aren’t around.
“Wait, that’s not all,” Due continued. “Now we had Big Air on Elk on the weekend. We were peeling pack and we know we’re behind and on Friday we had to spend time bringing snow in for the event so there wasn’t any peeling of the streets going on. We can’t control the weather like the snowstorm or the warm temperatures and we got caught in it.
“We were getting calls from the Big Air guys to bring in more snow since it was melting so fast. We didn’t have anyone, so they ended up getting a private contractor to help them out. The conditions came together to make it a mess.”
Due said he and another operator were out Saturday peeling the snowpack and getting people’s vehicles unstuck. After watching what he described as a great event Saturday night, he and his crew started hauling the snow off Elk Avenue after the bars closed. He worked from 2 a.m. until 10 a.m. Sunday.
“All these things came together for the perfect mess,” Due said. “My guys love and support this town and we are trying our best to make it work. I have received more than my share of angry calls and I understand it. I want to thank those people who have been supportive and understanding of the situation. It hasn’t been easy for anyone.”
Town manager Susan Parker has received more than a few calls as well. “I bet I’ve taken more than 70 phone calls and I expect I’ll be getting more,” she said. “No one is very happy and we understand. We are as frustrated as everyone else. We pulled resources from every town department to help out.”
Not only did people from the Crested Butte town departments jump in but the city of Gunnison sent in reinforcements as well. “City manager Ken Coleman and their public works director Tex Bradford were very helpful,” Parker continued. “It’s neighbors helping neighbors. They brought up equipment and are helping us with this rapid thaw. I don’t think the ark was available. We’ve also retained Lacy Construction to do some more intense slush removal in preparation to peel the pack.”
Mountain Express director Chris Larsen has lived in Crested Butte 31 years and said he’s never seen the situation this bad. “The Mountain Express buses stopped going to Old Town Hall at 11:30 Sunday morning,” he said. “Whiterock was in really bad shape. Added to the melting snowpack was the fact that people were double parking and we didn’t have any room. It got to the point we couldn’t make it through there anymore.”
So the buses stopped at the Gas Café, Four-way and Sixth-and-Belleview stops, all on the east side of town. The full town route was resumed about 6:30 Monday evening.
“The drivers heard a lot of comments from visitors and locals on why they couldn’t get up-town,” Larsen said. “Overall, there weren’t any major complaints from passengers but there was lots of grumbling. Locals understood, but for a visitor with kids and skis and boots, it wasn’t the level of service we wanted to provide. The town did what they could, but it was a lost cause given the conditions.”
Larsen said no buses got stuck and no damage has been seen on any of the vehicles.
“I wish I had the crystal ball that had told me we would be having 45- or 50-degree temperatures for days on end with no end in site,” Due said. “But no one gave me that crystal ball. The reality is, we are a town located at 9,000 feet and sometimes it snows a lot. This is one of those years. It’s life. This is life happening. We aren’t perfect. We can do anything with enough money but how close to Vail do we all want to get? More money would get us more machines and more people.
“One of my guys said that in two weeks it’ll be gone and almost forgotten,” Due said. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t learn lessons and adjust our strategy. But this is an in-the-moment panic. This situation wasn’t the result of a bad budget or even bad planning. Everything bad that could happen, just happened at once.
“We learned lessons from the big year a couple of seasons ago and we put $100,000 in reserves to handle these types of winters. It wasn’t a money issue. It was an issue of being confronted with a lot of things out of our control. I’ll be asking the council for a few more people to help with the streets next winter. I think if we had them, we could keep the streets clear as much as we want.”
“All we can do is work with what we have and plan for the future,” Williams said. “That will mean more money devoted to it. I understand it has been difficult for everyone and we are dealing with the reality.”
As one anonymous staff member commented on Tuesday, “The one good thing is that given the situation this year, I’ll bet this won’t ever, ever happen again.”
That’s probably right.