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State reviewing procedures in response to scathing report on snowstorm response

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Photo by Dan Lassiter

Northbound traffic on Interstate 90/39 was at a near standstill and backed up as far as the eye could see south of Racine Street at midday on Thursday. Gov. Jim Doyle has called for a review of the emergency response to the situation, which left hundreds of motorists stranded—some for hours.

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Snow Storm

Snow blanketed southern Wisconsin in early February, closing many schools and businesses.

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Nearly three months after the release of a scathing report criticizing the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for its handling of the historic Feb. 6 snowstorm and resulting Interstate backup, the DOT is reviewing its procedures but has taken few concrete steps to address concerns in the report.

Frank Busalacchi, state secretary of transportation, has ordered an internal review of how the department handles emergencies, said David Collins, superintendent of the Wisconsin State Patrol.

Lt. Lauri Steeber, who oversaw the emergency Feb. 6 as executive officer of the State Patrol’s DeForest post, took much of the criticism in the report. She has since been transferred to the State Patrol’s Bureau of Transportation Safety, but that was not in response to the Interstate report, Collins said.

Lt. Brad Altman, Janesville, took over the DeForest post April 13.

Collins said the review committee probably will release its findings in summer or fall, and he didn’t want to speculate about what kind of recommendations it might make.

The committee will “tell people candidly, ‘OK, here’s some things we’re going to be doing differently or better before going into this next winter season,’” Collins said.

A report by Brig. Gen. Donald Dunbar of the Wisconsin National Guard heavily criticized the State Patrol, a division of the DOT, for its response to the February snowstorm that dumped up to 20 inches of snow on southern Wisconsin. Thousands of drivers ended up stranded on Interstate 90/39 in Rock and Dane counties for as long as 12 hours.

The report showed countless miscommunications and missteps by the state patrol and other agencies.

State officials failed to recognize the magnitude of the crisis and didn’t communicate effectively with local agencies, such as county sheriff departments, Dunbar wrote.

Recommendations from the report included:

-- Developing plans to shut down the Interstate if necessary.

-- Considering alternative means of communication to relieve the burden on 911 call centers and provide information to stranded drivers.

-- Reviewing emergency alert procedures and operations center procedures.

The DOT will consider those recommendations in its internal review, Collins said. The review committee will look at communication, partnerships with other agencies, equipment issues and staffing, he said.

Wisconsin Emergency Management and the DOT are planning a tabletop exercise in June to work on highway closure procedures, Collins said. The departments will discuss theoretical incidents and the procedures officials would follow to shut down the Interstate.

Several officials and dispatchers suggested closing I-90/39 during the Feb. 6 backup, but the State Patrol didn’t consider it, Dunbar wrote in his report.

“Suggestions of closing the highway during the event were met with the persistent assertion ‘Wisconsin does not close highways,’” he wrote.

After the report’s release, Busalacchi told The Janesville Gazette the Interstate should have been closed around 1 p.m. Feb. 6.

The review committee won’t hesitate to ask the DOT or the state Legislature for money for new technology and equipment if it thinks it’s necessary, but the focus will be on the state’s policies and procedures, Collins said.

“Not everything is always related to people and money,” he said. “A lot of it has to do with your organization and carrying out what everyone’s roles are.”

The DOT saw success later in the winter by relying more on “pre-event planning,” Collins said. State and local officials discussed plans three or four days before snowstorms Feb. 18, Feb. 24 and March 21, he said.

“We’ve learned that even weeks after that (Feb. 6) snowstorm, we do have the very best of people and equipment and response,” he said. “It’s just everyone has to be pulling in the right direction.”

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The Rock County Sheriff’s Office is trying to improve its communication with other agencies in response to a report that criticized, among other things, interagency communication during the Feb. 6 snowstorm and Interstate backup.

The sheriff’s office has contacted several agencies to exchange contact lists for emergencies that happen at night or on weekends, Chief Deputy Barb Barrington-Tillman said.

Those agencies include:

-- Janesville Police Department.

-- Beloit Police Department.

-- Walworth County Sheriff’s Office.

-- Dane County Sheriff’s Office.

-- Dane County Emergency Management.

Overall, the department is satisfied with its response to the snowstorm, Barrington-Tillman said, though she wishes it had known about the situation sooner.

The State Patrol didn’t know about the severity of the backup until at least 4 p.m., five hours after the problems began. The Rock County Sheriff’s Office didn’t know about it until 5 p.m., Sheriff Bob Spoden said.

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Cameras on the Interstate?

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation still hopes to install traffic cameras on the Interstate in Rock County, but there are no immediate plans to do so, a spokeswoman said this week.

A few years ago, the DOT bought traffic cameras for use in Rock County. It set up poles and wiring but never installed the cameras.

In a report about the Feb. 6 snowstorm and Interstate backup, Rock County Sheriff Bob Spoden wrote that traffic cameras on the Interstate would have helped officials see how far the backup extended.

Frank Busalacchi, state secretary of transportation, said after the report’s release that he believed the cameras weren’t installed because of a funding shortage. He said he would look into installing the equipment in the future.

The cost of the installation would come out of the state’s highway maintenance fund, said Peg Schmitt, a DOT spokeswoman. Right now, the highest priority for that fund is repairing damage to roads during the harsh winter, she said.