On a recent cold, winter day in the Adirondacks, a big garage in Ray Brook was warm and humid and smelled of motor oil.
Plow drivers at the New York State Dept. of Transportation garage were powerwashing a large, yellow plow truck. "Right now it’s basically getting a big bath,” explained plow driver Alaina Denton, "getting all the salt and grime off of it for now, until we have to go back out.”
Denton is one of twelve plow drivers who work for the NYSDOT between Ray Brook and Keene. She is the only female driver in the crew, a fact that Denton takes pride in.
"I like to outwork the guys," she said, with a laugh.
Denton, 20, grew up on a farm in Lewis and discovered her passion for big machinery while studying at CV-TEC, a trade school in Plattsburgh, where she made the National Technical Honors Society.
"It makes me feel in charge, the power is all yours," she explained. "When you’re in that plow truck, you can control whatever you want to do.”
Snowplowing also runs in Denton's family. Her uncle Harry worked for the DOT for nearly 40 years, and her father is still on staff.
Once the plow was washed, Denton walked around the truck, bending over to inspect every bolt and pin, as well as all the lights and fluids.
"You’ve got to check the tires and the rims," she continued. "The tread on the front should be four thirty-seconds, the backs are two thirty-seconds.”
The DOT trucks are inspected before every winter storm, so when the snow does start to fall, drivers like Denton are ready.
Heading out on the road
On the morning after one of this winter's first storms, Denton climbed into a plow truck at the DOT garage in Keene.
Driving a plow is like driving a tank, Denton explained, both are big and slow. She eased her way up to cruising speed, about 35 miles per hour.
"Always double check your mirrors," she said, driving west on Route 73 towards Lake Placid. "You never know when somebody is going to come flying up the middle lane and you’re coming right over because they do like to fly through here.”
As Denton drove higher into the mountains, the snowfall grew heavier and began sticking to the road, so she dropped the side plow down onto the shoulder.
"Up here is a really snowy, bad, drifty spot," said Denton. "Basically, you just keep pushing it back and back and back.”
The snowy, drifty spot is known as Cascade Pass, a narrow stretch of highway between Keene and Lake Placid. On one side are big boulders and cliffs covered in snow and ice. On the other side are the long and narrow Cascade Lakes.
"All the snow on that lake blows right over onto this road, and we are constantly back and forth fighting with it all winter long.”
Winters in the Adirondacks can be long and demanding for plow drivers. "Last year we got called in, I think, forty days straight in a row," said Denton. "We work really long shifts, but you end up getting used to it after a while.”
How DOT staff stay busy year-round
During winter storms, the DOT is staffed 24 hours a day. Denton is on the A shift, so she works from 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. The B shift covers 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.
Eric Crowningshield is the supervisor at the DOT shop in Keene. He's from Willsboro and has worked for the DOT for nearly 30 years. Crowningshield said the winter schedule can make it tough to maintain full staffing levels.
"It seems like we get up to target and then we start losing people, and then we get back up to target and we lose people," said Crowningshield. "It’s a demanding job.”
Years ago, there was a nationwide shortage of plow drivers. Today, the DOT said it does not have any staffing issues. The state employs about 3,500 snow and ice staff who plow about 38,000 lane miles around New York State, not including the thruways.
In the summer, the DOT staff in the Adirondacks remain focused on the roads- they fill potholes, dig ditches, and build culverts. That work has changed as the climate has gotten warmer and wetter.
Winter work has changed as well. There’s been a push to reduce the use of road salt, especially in the Adirondacks, where data shows it's polluting waterways and drinking wells. New technology now helps plow drivers regulate salt much better, including the use of salt brine on the roads before a storm.
The plows are also changing. As Crowningshield explained, they’re now incorporating reactor blades that bolt to the plows.
"They are approximately 12 inches long, they’re individual blades that contour to the road, and it scrapes more of the snow off so you can put less salt out," said Crowningshield.
Precision and confidence while plowing Cascade Pass
Once Denton made her way west through Cascade Pass, she turned the plow around to clear the snow on the opposite lane back towards Keene.
A small section of the shoulder was particularly icy, so Denton targeted it with road salt. She set the amount of salt she wanted to use, lowered her spinner, and steered the plow towards the ice.
"When you’re done, you can go right back over and turn your salt off," she explained.
This is Denton’s third winter driving a plow, but her precision and confidence make it seem like she’s been doing it a lot longer.
Denton explained every move she made and every insight she had. She also shared about her life outside of plowing, like how she spends her Sundays milking cows at a dairy farm in Willsboro.
"It’s probably one of the best feelings in the world," she said. "You go there, and all the cows are basically like big babies, they’re so lovable, especially dairy cows.”
Denton has two cows of her own at home in Lewis, as well as a horse, a dog, and a cat.
As she navigated the twists and turns of Cascade Pass at 35 miles an hour, a line of cars formed behind her. Denton said that used to stress her out, "but then I realized- take your time, they can wait. You’re making sure their roadway is safe.”
No amount of plowing can keep roads completely clear of ice and snow, especially during a winter storm, so Denton said drivers, too, need to slow down, give plows room, and don’t pass them, especially not on the right.
Plows play a key role in making roads safe in the winter, but drivers do as well.
