SALT LAKE CITY — With just weeks remaining until the current winter season comes to a close, Utahns are reflecting on the amount of snow they’ve seen... or haven't seen.
“This is very mild, very mild,” said one resident, echoing the comments of many. “I wouldn't even consider it winter."
As always, Utah Department of Transportation crews have been at the ready should they be needed, but between this season and last, they haven’t had to plow nearly as many roads as they did in the winter of 2023.
Even without any serious snow in the valleys across the state, UDOT has spent a considerable amount of its snow removal budget in the 2024-25 season. FOX 13 News asked the public to guess how much has been spent despite the lack of snow, and the answers were across the board.
“It’s not a super big state but there's a lot of people here so I would hope that they would spend a lot of money," said Dominick Gutierrez. "I would guess, ballpark, $1 million to $1.5 million.”
“I would say probably about half a million,” answered David Cherry
Surprisingly, from the start of the fiscal year on July 1, 2024 to Feb. 28, UDOT has spent $15 million of its snow removal budget, which includes equipment, materials and labor.
“What?! I can’t even fathom that,” replied one woman.
“That's a lot of money!" Cherry added. "I wish I had that much money!"
But according to UDOT, those millions are money well spent.
“The people that we have out on the roads, that's the labor, the equipment, the 560-plus plows that we have across the state, and then the materials that we use, the salt and the brine, and if you can imagine all of that going over the roads, across the state, it can be very costly,” explained UDOT spokesperson John Gleason.
Contrary to popular belief, Gleason said that keeping the roads safe costs a pretty penny.
“You look at an example, 2023, the biggest winter we have had in 50 years, it was record-breaking, it was also budget-breaking, we exceeded $40 million,” he said
So when it comes to protecting the lives of Utahns throughout the state, the expenses are nonnegotiable.
“It’s a lot of effort and a lot of resources but it's a big payoff," Gleason added. 'We need these crews and this equipment to keep our roads safe."
DRIVEN TO CHANGE
