You would think that with all of the fund raising along state Route 36 that Utah Highway Patrol has been doing on behalf Tooele County, that we might get a little snow removal on that very highway before thousands of citizens to take to the road for their AM commute.
I’ve been commuting from Tooele to Salt Lake for the better part of the last 10 years, and the snow removal efforts continue to be laughable at best. How is it that Tooele County could not manage a single pass of this 10 mile stretch of highway before 7 a.m. on Dec. 19? Yet the moment we commuters crossed into Salt Lake County, the roads were magically free of snow and average speeds increase from 5 mph to 40 mph. Is there some sort of advanced removal technology that only the top 1 percent of all counties can afford to acquire? Has weather forecasting technology not yet reached remote areas like Tooele, Utah? Or is possible that it can be attributed to the continuous mismanagement of the county and its resources?
Forgive my blatant sarcasm, but shouldn’t the safety of thousands of Tooele residents justify a little more effort in this area? Each day that the county fails to fulfill their obligations, our safety is compromised. We pass half a dozen accidents and slide offs that cost the victims tens of thousands of dollars in repairs, lost work hours and possibly medical expenses every time we get an inch or more of snow. Does this not make anybody with the city feel the least bit responsible for failing their citizens? There might have been a little more sympathy for the Tooele employees that were laid off or furloughed by the county and federal budget crisis if the citizens ever got quality results in the services we pay for. As it stands now, our emotional currency has to be reserved for ourselves because we suffer the repercussions of this lazy work.
My message to the county here is simple: Consider the safety of your citizens and your obligation to them before taking such a careless approach to your responsibilities. If you want a community that cares about our county and respects the employees that serve it, try living up to your responsibilities. It’s more than just a job that you aren’t good at when our well-being is at stake. Take a moment and ask yourself how you feel about your role in the next life- threatening accident that occurs on a snowy morning because you couldn’t inconvenience somebody to do their job.
Addam Smith
Tooele