BOZEMAN — At this point, most people in Montana are aware — there’s no snow. But for those who rely on snow for their jobs, the unusually dry season has brought big changes.
“When this season started, is this how you thought you’d be spending your winter?” I asked plow truck driver Michael Stevens.
“No, I thought we were going to be plowing,” he said.
Stevens works for the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and started last year, when winter roads looked far more snow-packed than they do now.
“It was quite busy last year,” Stevens said. “Tons of overtime — normal eight-hour days and then plus four hours or more.”
This winter, roads in Montana have been far clearer.
“This time last year, normally everybody would be out plowing,” Stevens explained. But the reality is different — a lot full of idle plows, not a single truck out on the road. It’s been weeks since Stevens has had to drive one.
The lack of snow has affected his work, but not in the ways many might expect.
“We end up doing mostly signs, guard rail, cable rail, so that kind of keeps us busy,” Stevens said.
MDT crews have been fixing potholes, repairing sections of U.S. Highway 191, clearing culverts, and more. They are working as many hours as they would in a normal winter, but on different tasks.
To my surprise, Josh Ritchie, Bozeman’s maintenance chief, said the dry, mild winter has actually been beneficial.
“We’ve never had it where we’ve had temperatures pushing into the 50s in mid-January that I know of,” Ritchie said. “It’s kind of given us a unique possibility to get some maintenance activities done that we were getting behind on.”
Ritchie said staffing shortages in recent years have created a backlog in road maintenance.
“We were struggling with staffing issues the last few years. We’ve really been struggling trying to employ enough people to fill our ranks,” he said.
This year, seasonal workers from across Montana have come to Bozeman to help. Giving crews the manpower needed to catch up. Still, Ritchie acknowledged that other regions might be facing challenges.
“I’m sure some areas that are caught up are having a hard time keeping those employees busy,” he said.
Looking at the forecast, there’s no snow in sight. And while Stevens appreciates having work to do, he’s eager to get back to plowing.
“I mean, we want the snow just like anybody else. Snow makes us work. The same with the rest of the economy. Snow is what drives Bozeman. So, yeah, we would love the snow,” Stevens said.
