Road conditions stall semis
As icy road conditions continued to cover much of the area Tuesday morning, Minnesota Department of Transporation snow plow trucks struggled to keep up with the need for salt and gravel on roads, based on numerous reports on the law enforcement scanner.
Kenny Dold, a truck driver from Marshall was stopped on the side of Minnesota Highway 23 near Florence for more than two hours this morning.
"When I left Marshall I was going 35 to 40 mph," Dold said. But conditions rapidly worsened as he continued to drive southwest.
Dold, along with at least three other semi truck and trailers parked on the side of Highway 23 to wait for conditions to improve or a MnDOT truck to dump sand and salt.
Dold was able to turnaround and head back to Marshall after 9 a.m. but just before 9:30 a.m., he said he'd only traveled about two miles and was hoping to hit sand and salt.
Marshall School Superintendent Klint Willert said the call to close school and the first call to have school be two hours late should have been made earlier today.
The school closed about 45 minutes after the two hour-late announcement was made at about 7:23 a.m. today.
Willert said buses were already on routes when the decisions were made. Willert and a bus company official weren't sure of the conditions, he said.
When bus drivers reported poor paved road conditions, the decisions were made, Willert said.
It's the first storm of its kind for the season and the temperature, the uncertainity of if and when conditions could improve made decisions difficult today, Willert said. The process will be reviewed and improved, he said.
Willert said he understands the lateness of the calls may have caused some problems for families but in the end, it was best to still close school.
"We didn't want students here and get into a situation where we couldn't get them home," Willert said.
The conditions closed school and also changed the plans of the Minnesota Vikings who were to appear in Marshall today.
The Minnesota Vikings appearance at the school is canceled and the community luncheon and appearance has been postponed until, hopefully, spring, the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce said.
The chamber said conditions at the municipal airport are not expected to improve. Vikings officials promised to reschedule, hopefully for the spring, the chamber said.
Tickets will be refunded at the chamber office.
Viking linebackers Chad Greenway and Ben Leber and owner Mark Wilf were scheduled to be in Marshall today.
