Bridge situations require additional care throughout winter journey – InForum

GRAND FORKS — A mix of snow and ice on roads is already a hazard, and officers say these situations are particularly the case on bridges.

After Grand Forks police

responded to a crash this week on the Columbia overpass

, they wish to remind drivers to decelerate for the situations so you possibly can keep in management.

The North Dakota DOT says what’s beneath bridges is simply as vital as what’s on high of them, so driving in these environments, particularly within the winter, requires that rather more care.

“If you’re attempting to speed up, it would be safer to do that when you’re not on a bridge,” mentioned Justin Bailey, security public data program supervisor for the North Dakota DOT.

Whether you’re driving over a set of prepare tracks or a physique of water, the situations on bridges are sometimes completely different than regular roads.

“Ground retains heat a lot easier than water does, so those roadways are more frequently going to freeze over water than they would if they were on solid ground, just because of that temperature change,” Bailey mentioned.

Grand Forks police say they reply to fewer than 10 crashes per yr in bridge-related environments, however had to answer one this week on the Columbia overpass.

When they assess these conditions within the winter, they may begin calling on the individuals who can repair no matter triggered the issue.

“If it’s icy like any intersection or any place in town, we get the street department involved, and we make sure that they’re treating the streets and getting rid of the ice,” mentioned Lt. Dwight Love of the Grand Forks Police Department.

The most up-to-date crash on Columbia concerned three vehicles and was initially thought to have been brought on by somebody dropping management.

But to stop that kind of scenario, Love mentioned drivers at all times have recourse.

“We certainly think that there never should be a loss of control, regardless of the conditions, because you should never drive faster than the conditions allow,” Love mentioned.

If drivers do should hit the brakes on an icy bridge, the North Dakota DOT says the best way they accomplish that will affect their capacity to decelerate.

“If you have a newer vehicle with ABS on it, you can just hold the brake down and it will automatically pump those brakes for you, but if you have an older vehicle with the drum brakes, that’s when you’re going to want to do that more tapping motion,” Bailey mentioned.

The Grand Forks crash occurred on Tuesday, Jan. 20, with police saying three folks had been handled for accidents, however no one went to a hospital.

Isak Dinesen joined WDAY-TV as a reporter in September 2024. He beforehand labored as a multimedia journalist at WAOW-TV in Wausau, Wisconsin for 3 years. He graduated from NDSU in 2020, majoring in Journalism and minoring in Sports Communication at MSUM.