Two-tracking through Oakland County

A couple truisms I thought about while driving in the snow last winter.

To get to work, I drive in both Oakland and Wayne counties. The street I live on is considered a main thoroughfare to get to Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, so it’s usually plowed early and kept clean throughout the day.

But the rest of the streets in Oakland County, such as expressways and mile roads, must not be on the same list.

For example, to get to my job, I head south on the Southfield freeway. Oakland is the wealthiest county in Michigan, so I had expected the roads to be cleared early and constantly.

Not true.

The roads were barely touched after major snowfalls by the time rush hour hit. In my mind, Oakland County should have had plows out at 4 a.m. so that by 7 a.m., the roads would be safe to travel.

I’m not expecting something impossible.

As anyone who travels the Southfield south from Oakland to Wayne knows, 8 Mile is the border between the two counties. And once I hit 8 Mile, my tires hit concrete. The Wayne County crews had already been out and from 8 Mile south, the freeway was clear.

This was a constant last winter – Oakland did a pretty poor job of cleaning its main roads while Wayne did an excellent job of cleaning theirs. How come poor, downtrodden Wayne can get the job done while Oakland County can’t?

And another thing.

According to a report I heard on National Public Radio, the cost of road salt has more than doubled. The gist of the story was: don’t expect too much in the way of help out there.

My wife’s family lives in northern Michigan. They get twice as much snow as we do and they do not salt the roads up there. Instead, they do one of two things: put sand down or move the snow.

It would be a shame if this came as news to Oakland County’s leadership. But somehow, there are cities and townships in northern Michigan that have a tenth of the tax base of Oakland County, if that, and their roads are clear even in the worst conditions.

How can that be?

Next week: You’ve lived in Michigan all your life. When are you going to learn to drive in the snow?