ODOT Responds To Plow Pushing Snow Over Median, Onto Tulsa Wreck

ODOT says the normal procedure is to push snow into the median, but not over it, and there are no set speed limits other than what's posted.

Tuesday, March 4th 2014, 5:26 pm

By: News On 6


An exclusive clip of video from Osage SkyNews 6 has one state agency up in arms and a snow plow driver in trouble. We first showed you the video, live Monday, on Six In The Morning. A snow plow driver pushed snow across the median and on top of two stopped cars.

The truck driver worked for a private company contracted with the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, and an ODOT employee was in one of the vehicles that was sprayed.

3/3/2014 Related Story: WATCH NOW: Plow Dumps Snow On Tulsa Wreck

More than 16,000 people have watched the clip across Oklahoma.

It happened on the I-44 bridge over the Arkansas River Monday morning. It appears as though an SUV lost control on the bridge and came to a stop; the car had front end damage from where it hit the concrete median.

A white sedan, also stopped, is actually the car of an ODOT employee; he had stopped to help with traffic control. That employee talked with us off camera, but ODOT would not make him available for an on camera interview.

A few minutes after stopping on the bridge, the ODOT employee said he saw a snow plow coming from the opposite side and ran to get back into his car. Seconds later, the truck pushed snow and ice over the barrier and on to the two vehicles. The ODOT employee said no one was hurt, but his car was pelted with rocks and small debris.

We wanted to know more about who drives the trucks for ODOT. A spokeswoman said ODOT has had a contract with C-P Integrated Services out of Oklahoma City since 2001 to clean state roads in all of Tulsa County and parts of Rogers County, as well as the OKC metro area.

Last year the state paid CPI $2.9 million for snow and ice removal, along with other road maintenance issues.

ODOT says the normal procedure is to push snow into the median, but not over it, and there are no set speed limits other than what's posted. ODOT also says the contract requires CPI employees to have certain types of certifications, but the training is left up to the private company.

The ODOT employee who was on the bridge said he was told that CPI has let go of the snow plow driver. We have left messages with CPI but the company has not called back.

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