Some Eastern Iowa roads still drifted shut

Road crews in some Eastern Iowa counties are still working to clear drifts left by this week's blizzard.

“We're doing the best we can,” Delaware County Engineer Anthony Bardgett said this afternoon.

Bardgett hoped to have the county's last gravel roads plowed out by Saturday morning. All paved roads were open by Friday noon, although only single lanes are open on some routes.

“They're getting there, it's just a big task,” said Delaware County Emergency Manager Mike Ryan. “They're pounding away at it. When the snow is driven it like it was, it pushes hard.”

Ryan said the county is seeking a disaster declaration from Gov. Terry Branstad, allowing the state to send heavy equipment to help county crews finish the job. He said a few pieces of county equipment had broken down during the intensive push to re-open the roads.

In Dubuque County, “this morning we popped the last three or four roads open that weren't,” said county engineer Bret Wilkinson. “We've got a lot of roads that are open just one lane.”

Dubuque County has been declared a disaster area, and Wilkinson expects a state-owned snow blower to arrive Saturday morning to help the county's blower finish clearing operations.

“We're planning and running that all day Saturday, Saturday night, and all day Sunday,” he said.

Cedar County, also declared a disaster area, should see a state blower by Monday, said emergency manager Tim Malott.

“Some of the gravel roads hadn't been done today, they were hoping to get that done,” Malott said this afternoon. “We have a lot of drifting areas still out there, a lot of single passes. We're working very hard to get that done, but they've got a long ways to go.”

Bardgett said his crews made at least one mercy run, plowing a trail for sheriff's deputies and an ambulance responding to a medical emergency.

Snowbound residents experiencing an emergency should the sheriff's office, “and we'll plow straight to them,” Bardgett said. “Otherwise, we're just trying to get them all out. We can't pick and choose, I guess.”