After more than 48 hours of answering calls from stranded motorists with only a few hours of sleep, Jackson County Sheriff Ray Clements Jr. was more than a little upset Thursday.

Though the sun was shining in Rapid City, on Interstate 90 east of town, travel was hazardous. In some areas, blowing snow coated the highway in slush; in others, the wind built deceptively deep finger drifts and produced sudden whiteouts.

But the traffic didn't stop coming, nor did it stop sliding off the slippery highway.

Clements said the state Department of Transportation's policy of pulling trucks and plows off the roadway in the early evening and not returning to work until the early morning has left him frustrated.

"Yesterday, they came out early and plowed all day. They kept it pretty decent for us so we could get cars out. Then last night, they went home at dark," Clements said.

In the evening, a stretch of the highway iced over on a hill east of Kadoka. A car slid off the road and semitrailers trying to get around the wrecker couldn't pull the hill.

"We had about four or five semis sitting there," Clements said.

A DOT truck from Kadoka came out and sanded the hill, but that was all the assistance offered overnight, Clements said.

The department can only do so much, according to Greg Fuller, DOT director of operations.

"Unfortunately, we don't have enough staff to maintain the roads 24 hours a day," Fuller said Thursday. "We try to get out early, between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m., and try to get a round made before the majority of the traffic."

Trucks work all day during the hours of the heaviest traffic. Trucks start coming off the road between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. so the drivers can get rested and ready to go out the next day, Fuller said.

Driving a snow plow is demanding. Drivers with their plows down are stirring up snow. For them, the visibility is worse than it is for travelers. "When they do that continuously, they (drivers) just run out of gas," Fuller said.

"It's a long, nerve-racking day," Fuller said.

Although the safety of the traveling public is a concern, it has to be balanced with the safety of the workers. Winter weather can persist for several days in a row.

From Wednesday through 1 p.m. on Thursday, the South Dakota Highway Patrol recorded 56 motorists assists (typically, cars that have slid off the road), six abandoned vehicles, 17 non-injury accidents and three injury accidents on I-90.

The havoc stretched from east of Rapid City on past Kadoka toward Murdo, according to Lt. David Berkley of the highway patrol.

About 3:30 a.m. Thursday, a car floundered in a snowdrift on a barren stretch of interstate west of Cactus Flats. A truck attempting to pass the car also wallowed down in the same drift.

By the time a DOT truck arrived between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m., about 15 big trucks were lined up behind the two vehicles, Clements said.

"They need to do something different," the sheriff said. "We need to be able to call and use them when we need them."

Clements blamed many of Thursday's incidents on the snow that piled up on the road overnight. In many areas, there were big humps on the highway that threw vehicles off course, he said.

Plows would have prevented those drifts from forming, Clements said.

If the state can't keep the roads open at night, it would be better to close the highways, Clements said.

"If they're not going to be out there maintaining and plowing, that's what they need to do," Clements said.

Trooper Berkley says people need to slow down when they travel and be prepared for changes in driving conditions.

The state has been diligent the past several years about keeping travelers alerted to changing road conditions, Fuller said.

Drivers can check road conditions throughout state by calling 511 or by going online to www.safetravelusa.com. Calling 511 is free, and it's the most accurate source of road information, Fuller said.

"If there's a message this winter it's this has been a winter like we haven't seen in years. People have lost their common sense when it comes to traveling in winter weather," Fuller said.

His best advice to winter travelers: "Take a deep breath and think about what they're heading into before they head out."

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com