Jackson Jambalaya

I was listening to police scanner this afternoon, repeatedly hearing police tell dispatch to call DOT to salt/sand bridges. Multiple times dispatch response was "DOT said they don't see ice, no need to spread at this point".

I know several people stuck for more than two hours.

well h***
if i were to check the leading newspaper of the state's website, i would have no idea that people were stuck on the stack. isnt that in their front yard?

Just imagine what it would have been like if you were in an "electric" car. You'd probably be dead.

KF, I don't think that DOT's poor response can be blamed on Dick Hall. Tim or others may try, but it will be much easier to blame it on Butch Brown, who may have intentionally held the salt trucks up so his buddy Tim would have a little controversy with which to kick off his campaign. Dick Hall will have to actively do a lot worse than this before Tim has a chance of unseating him. Bill Billingsley

"Shanna, they bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into. I say, let 'em crash."

If you are on the interstate knowing there is ice, then, well, sucker.

I just love the hilarious juxtaposition of the MDOT crews telling WAPT Wednesday night that they were all loaded up, ready to go, and then Thursday night, they are nowhere to be seen. Great PR.

Dick Hall is and has always been a sorry M____r F____r, ice, or no ice.

MDOT is probably the most disfunctional state agency in existence. I didn't say the employees are not good people, but it is a red tape and a "that's not my job" typical operation.

In NC, 6 inches of snow and ice on Christmas Day did not keep the main roads and bridges from being passable at 8am the day after Christmas. The reason is that DOT there was committed to being prepared and acting in a timely way.

I was very impressed by the efficiency and was told that after a past" national embarrassment" of being unprepared, DOT and the state government made a committment not to have that happen again.

They actually made a PLAN based on what other states had learned about dealing with snow and ice . They stopped being satisfied with " the way we've always done it". They actually cared about their national image, accepted and learned from criticism and decided to be "the best". Can you imagine?

Not sure where the "Shanna, .....let'em crash." statement comes from, but I was no 'sucker'....just a working woman trying to get home. Left office about 3:25, Pearl St ramp to I55 as usual. Traffic backed up & inching toward stack.
Listened to radio only to hear about havoc on 220. NOthing about stack. By the time I got to split/foot of stack, I was able to see that traffic was at standstill at top of stack...looked as though there was jack-knifed truck towing small trailer on down slope. Made decision--and, thankfully, was safely able---to cross over to I55 west bound. Took State St. exit to Hwy 80. Made it to Brandon an hour later. Some friends were not so fortunate and were stuck on stack for hours.

MDOT should have prepared stack, 220, all bridges for the predicted inclement weather. What were they thinking???? Obviously, they didn't decide wisely. Were politics involved??? One would certainly hope not since lives were at stake!

"Shanna...let them crash" quote from Airplane movie. Ancient history..Shana Alexander and James Kilpatrick on Point Counterpoint segment.

Helps to be a geezer to remember these things.......

your not alone.....atl had five snow plows during the last debacle...borrowed two from Charlotte. They wanted theirs back so GDOT had to improvise with bulldozers....tore all the lane reflectors off the freeways, they are in little piles by the side of the road and it costs like 100 bucks a piece to stick um back on.....great...yea that's the ticket...

mdot did great job in southern district. We still had wrecks, however, mdot was out spreading sand by 9 am thursday morning. Some bridges around my area were not sanded however, hard to be everywhere at once and it appeared they were hitting the critical areas first which is the way it should be. You would think the stack would probably be the most critical in the central and would have been done 1st.

Damn, Elizabeth Crisp appears to have contracted a bad case of Ladditis.

No, I would not go that far. Most of the reporters I've talked to don't see the connection. They see the amount of money from AB directly to politicians and don't think its much, which it isn't. They don't focus on the PAC or lobbyists.

Funny how several lobbyists this week told me I nailed it.

KF - Are these Elizabeth Crisp critiques in the wrong thread?

I agree with 2/3/11 11:02PM... Why was this not in the news? A delay of this magnitude--at an junction of major interstates--should have been on every radio/TV newscast and every traffic reporting website. CL didn't bother to report on the stack in today's paper either--and the usually jump at the chance to bash MDOT.

Just food for thought about snow-plowing and reflective markers... Most states that get a lot of snow and regularly use snow plows do not like to use Raised Pavement Markers (RPMs). The states in the south choose to use them because there are few incidents of needing snow-plowing, and RPMs are a HUGE benefit to the safety of the traveling public in the reduction of crashes and fatalities. I believe that the cost to GA DOT was immense in having to replace their RPMs--because of the costs for temporary traffic control to shut down highly traveled lanes in order to replace the RPMs. I'm sure that went through GA DOT's thought process in bringing out the plows, and they put the immediate needs for the public as top priority.

There is no telling what MDOT's thought process was, but it is obvious that they completely failed on this one. I doubt if Dick Hall had direct influence on this issue. He is not my favorite person, mind you, but he does not direct the day-to-day maintenance operations of MDOT.

It funny people in Mississippi trying to drive on the ice. Common since would be take secondary roads and not the Interstate. It was funny watching this Bill Mason guy complain on WLBT that his wife was stuck on the stack. Then he was going to call the Governor. Governor can't do jack about what Mother Nature plans to do.

As Frank Melton would Say
That my Friends is the Bottom Line

Why would you ever get on an interstate much less a RAISED interstate when it was raining and the temperatures were dropping? Of course accidents are going to happen, and you are going to be stuck as stuck can be. The stack is dangerous to drive on a sunny day in June let alone when it is raining with freezing conditions. I saw this man on TV tonight talking about his wife being on the stack and saying he was going to call the Governor. He sounded like a fool like the Governor could keep the roads from icing or could do something to keep wrecks from happening. There are ways to travel around Jackson without getting on the interstate. He should help his wife find an alternate route home instead of blaming everyone else for her problems. No one can control the weather, and no one certainly wanted to be in a wreck yesterday. It just happened.

I agree with the previous two posters ... why would you choose the route that has the highest and longest bridge in the city ?

pick another route home. there are plenty. i have neighbors that are scared of the stack and they manage to travel all sorts of places and never encounter the stack.

another reason I am glad I live in the beautiful city of Jackson --- don't have to worry about how I will get home in inclement weather.

Not surprised MDOT worked better in some districts than others.
Highway construction/repair doesn't have to be disruptive. MDOT can be citizen friendly or contractor friendly.

If you KNOW it's going to be bad, throw some stuff in your car (snacks, blanket, water, radio, scanner, etc...) I have a backpack with some essentials in case I get stuck somewhere. People, you knew this was coming, ya'll really need to be prepared.

I left work about 4:30 and drove home as usual via I-20E from Clinton to Brandon. It was slow at times, but the traffic never reached a standstill. Frankly I was relieved to see motorists using prudent caution while crossing the overpasses/bridges. Saw several accidents at overpasses on I20W though.

Had it been really bad, I would have probably came down Hwy 80E. I've used that route in bad road conditions before and you would be surprised how well that old highway handles ices. It must be all the cracks and potholes.

The stack can be bad on a clear, sunny day. If leaving from downtown to Rankin Co. I would have exited via what used to be the old bridge that crosses over into Flowood at 49S.

Instead of getting on TV and making a fool out of himself, Bill Mason should tell his wife what she should already know, and that's to stay off icy interstates and then he should help her learn another route home. People who drive raised interstates in icy conditions can expect to get stuck. Like the Governor or anyone could control the weather. The stack isn't safe on a sunny day.

You obviously still can't read IP addresses for shit. Cheers [name redacted].

Just FYI...for inquiring minds...

The Mississippi DOT does not answer to the governor. We are one of the few (if not the only) state(s) that is governed by three Highway Commissioners which are elected by the people. A position as a Highway Commissioner in MS, is a very powerful position indeed.

The Office of State Aid Road Construction, which administers transportation programs for the counties is under the governor. MS is the only state that has two transportation agencies that answer to different governing bodies.

And 1:25, add the fact that the Commissioners don't control the daily work of the road crews. The Commissioners 'hire' an Executive Director, who have that control, and two of the three commissioners have hired Butch Brown. So, KF, its hard to blame this f/u on Hall.