December Snow Hits Road Commission Hard

The high amount of snowfall in December took a toll on many, including the Marquette County Road Commission.

The record amounts of snow created a higher plowing demand than usual for local roads and highways.

Road commission engineer/manager Jim Iwanicki says that led to much higher costs.

Labor costs are a lot higher than they were.

There’s a 26% increase in man-hours put in compared to this point last winter.

The increased winter costs could lead to some summer cutbacks.

This could mean some projects don’t get built, and also some maintenance and paving projects get put off for another year.

Revenues are also down about 4% compared to last year.