Clearing Monarch Pass: How short-staffed CDOT plow drivers keep the road open year-round

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Patrick Traylor is Senior Editor for Photography and Multimedia at The Denver Post, a position he has held since 2018. He joined The Post as a photo editor in 2012. He earned his master's degree in photojournalism from Ohio University's School of Visual Communication in Athens, Ohio.

Chris Feather, a night shift CDOT plow operator walks back to his plow truck after speaking with a driver stuck on the side of the road on Monarch Pass in Chaffee County on March 29, 2024.

Chris Feather, a night shift CDOT plow operator maintains Monarch Pass in Chaffee County on March 29, 2024. “I mean, they do pay overtime, but overtime gets old,” Bennett said. “Nice for the pocketbook but you ain’t got a life sometimes in the winter.” Most of the CDOT plows are equipped with a “wing extension”, a smaller plow that hangs off the side of the truck to catch snow from the main plow. Bennett said it’s a balancing act to “maintain float”, a process of pushing as much snow off the road as possible without catching the asphalt or hitting a guardrail. Bennett said he has that sweet spot pretty much perfected after so many years driving a plow.

“At times you actually can’t even see what’s in front of your plow. I mean, there are times you absolutely have no idea what’s out there and you just pray,” he said. “That’s the most dangerous part of in my opinion because you can’t tell where you’re going… but you learn the road and learn what to look for.”

 

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