Commissioners Berate North Carolina DOT After Seven Ambulances Become Snowbound

Jan. 27--After six days of dealing with weather-related road conditions, Davidson County Commissioners directed harsh words at the North Carolina Department of Transportation during Tuesday night's regular meeting.

Added to Tuesday night's budget before the adoption of the agenda, conversation among commissioners regarding the county's road conditions as compared to surrounding counties drew impassioned response.

Commissioners agreed to arrange a meeting with NCDOT officials and Davidson County State representatives including Rep. Rayne Brown, R-Davidson, Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Davidson, and Rep. Sam Watford, R-Davidson, regarding the issue. Chairman Steve Jarvis and commissioners Steve Shell and Todd Yates will represent the board during the meeting.

Jarvis began the conversation by acknowledging the sacrifice of NCDOT workers during inclement weather but admitted he was "alarmed" by the service Davidson County received during last week's storm.

"What are (surrounding counties) doing different that their roads are dry?" Jarvis said. "I think we need to assess this and see what this is. This is a major public safety issue in our county."

Because North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory called for a state of emergency before the storm, counties across the state are afforded the ability to combat road conditions with all resources necessary. Resources, though, weren't the issue, Jarvis said.

Reading from reports provided by county emergency services, Jarvis said seven ambulances got stuck responding to calls during the storm. All told, through 233 calls, EMS reported an average response time of 14 minutes during the inclement weather with their longest response taking 36 minutes.

"What if that was your mother, your father having a heart attack and we are stuck and unable to get around just because the roads are impassible," he said.

Jarvis said he spoke with multiple motorists over the weekend who experienced clear and dry roads leading to the county line on many highways. Jarvis said one caller told him he experienced clear roads all the way from Atlanta until crossing into Davidson County. Interstate-85 and highways 52 and 64 were among the many county highways that received noticeably less service than surrounding counties, Jarvis said.

"I'd like to know why our county has no service and these other counties were taken care of by Saturday," commissioner Larry Potts said. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that we're just not considered a high enough priority."

Commissioners said in communication with DOT officials before and during the storm, representatives advised that a fluid forecast of sleet and ice over the period of a few days could make it difficult to begin scraping roads. By the time crews began attending to the roads, it was too late, Potts said.

"This is unacceptable. It's not the first time it's happened and we need to know that it's going to be the last time," Potts said. "That's a classic example that the DOT put the citizens of Davidson County in jeopardy for emergency response when the surrounding counties didn't have that problem."

NCDOT representatives could not be reached Tuesday night for comment.

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