Never-ending winter straining road budgets

Traffic on Highway 59 passes through New Berlin during a storm last year. The extended winter season is straining municipalities' snow removal budgets. (File photo by Kevin Harnack)

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) – What seems like never-ending winter weather in Wisconsin is straining municipalities’ snow removal budgets.

The city of Eau Claire burned through half of its 2013 winter road budget by the end of last month. The city’s road clearing budget of $1.5 million has to last until the end of the year. Above average snowfall has kept snow removal crews busy. Eau Claire received about 37 inches of snow last winter. This winter, more than 62 inches of snow has fallen in the city.

Eau Claire County highway commissioner Marcus Evans tells the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram it’s been a difficult year so far. The county has spent about $460,000 removing snow in January and February, compared to $320,000 during the same time last year.

Information from: Leader-Telegram, http://www.leadertelegram.com/