Michigan DOT Offers Residents GPS Tracking View of Snow Plowing
7 Jan 2015Michigan drivers can now log into their computers to see when snow has been cleared from their regular road routes. For Michigan residents, the immense amounts of snow have been their point of pride. There is always a good snow story to be told in this area from a complete whiteout to not being able to find their car after a blizzard.
In the winter of 1978 – 1979, Michigan saw a record snowfall total of 355.90 inches. During the winter of 1930 – 1931, it experienced their least amount of snowfall which was 81.30 inches. And last year, they experienced over 181.50 inches.
The Michigan Tech Keweenaw Research Center measures the snow near the Houghton County Memorial Airport. In Keweenaw Peninsula at the northmost portion, the snow is measured near Delaware by the Keweenaw County Road Commission, where the snowfall usually is greater than the Houghton County recordings.
Because of the amount of snowfall Michigan sees, the Michigan Department of Transportation has made GPS tracking information public of the data collected already by the state’s snowplows, according to Fox 17. At the moment, this method is only being tested in the southwest counties of the state. If it is a success, the program will be available to the entire state.
To access this GPS information on where snowplows have been and where they are going, drivers just need to log into the MI Drive website.
On the website, viewers will be able to see the location of snowplows if they are going faster than 10 mph and in some cases, live feeds from cameras will be shown of the types of conditions snowplows have to face.
According to Nick Schirripa, MDOT spokesman, being able to have the snowplows’ locations and know where they were and when gave them an opportunity to build up a database in order to determine when it was best to deploy them. But, it was absolutely priceless to be able to see 50 miles ahead and know what is in front of you during your travels.
You can also see on the website, when roads have been covered with salt and when snowplows were not working. Schirripa says that we are becoming more tech-savvy as a traveling culture and as a society overall which are valuable resources.
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