WILLIAMSTOWN, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont’s backroads have seen horrendous conditions in recent weeks as the region experiences what seems like a never-ending series of mud seasons.
From this past soggy summer to a mild winter, Washington County has seen its share of mud.
“This year has been really a strange year for mud because of all the rain and everything we’ve had through the winter,” said Williamstown Road Foreman David Wilder. “This year, we’ve been through four mud seasons since December… We haven’t had a lot of snow, we’ve had more wet weather, so the road freezes when it gets cold with all the water in it. When it thaws out, you get mud.”
The conditions have kept the phone ringing off the hook at the Auto Clinic in Barre. “Business has been busy, definitely. There are a lot of people getting stuck in the mud, the ruts are very, very deep. All of these freezes and thaws and snow on top of the mud,” said the shop’s Jason Ackers. “It is hard sometimes to get to where these people are stuck. Our trucks are heavy. We don’t like to take our trucks out there, you know. It does take a toll on them… A tow truck is expensive, I mean it’s easily a six-figure investment for one truck and then the equipment and the maintenance is very expensive. The insurance is very expensive and these pieces of machinery they break and they can break often sometimes when you’re putting them through the elements like a muddy dirt road, you’re going to have more breakdowns.”
Ackers says sometimes the roads are so bad their tow trucks can’t even make it up the muddy, narrow roads. “The roads are like soup and you know that’s the biggest is the road itself is the biggest challenge,” he said.
Ackers advises people to avoid backroads if possible to stay safe. “Don’t take your Prius or you know, your Tesla, your vehicle with no ground clearance. Just do the best you can and keep it off the back roads,” he said.