SALT LAKE CITY — Some may cry tears of sadness, while others may yelp with joy to learn the Utah Department of Transportation is dusting off the snowplows and assembling their crew of drivers to keep roads clear this winter.
On Thursday, UDOT showcased its fleet of more than 500 snowplows and other equipment to help remove snow when weather hits.
It may seem the plows were just out and about on Utah roads and they kind of were as the state experienced a record-breaking winter last season.
UDOT says as a result of the weather, their team plowed more than five million miles, equivalent to clearing a road around the world 215 times.
It takes a dedicated crew to operate the plows at the drop of a hat, and this year, UDOT has assembled hundreds of workers to take on what can be a daunting task.
In total, UDOT has 650 full-time plow drivers as well as 138 seasonal employees and 80 construction staff who are licensed to operate snowplows.
The team will be hitting all areas of the state come winter, taking care of more than 24,000 lane miles of road.
Of course, there's a bill to pay when it comes to snow removal. With the record-breaking winter last season, the total cost surpassed the budget by millions of dollars, FOX 13 News previously reported, but UDOT said not to fear, snow will still be removed regardless of budget.
Projects are simply moved around to account for the bigger snow removal costs and less urgent road needs are pushed back.
For this season, the snow operations budget is a whopping $30 million. UDOT said the state experiences more than 25 winter storms annually and each storm costs about $1 million to clean up.
This season, Utah's snowy season seems to be getting off to a late start as ski resorts have had to push back their opening weekend due to a lack of powder.
The only resort that has dared to open thus far has been Solitude, which opened a few lifts last weekend thanks to the help of snowmakers.
For now, we can only wait to see if Utah will get another big winter, putting the state's snow removal crew to work.
