Holidays end with long drive home for Arizonans in snow country
Jan 3, 2017, 8:33 AM | Updated: 12:12 pm
(Twitter Photo)
(Twitter Photo)
The drive home from Arizona snow country took a bit longer as the holidays came to end this week but it wasn’t necessarily just the fault of Mother Nature.
The Arizona Department of Transportation said drivers pulling over along the highway to play in the snow partially led to long delays on U.S. 180 near Flagstaff on Monday.
We're hearing of delays on US 180 due to people parking/playing in the snow. It's illegal & u put your safety and your kids safety at risk. pic.twitter.com/vPeCz2xDr0
— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) January 2, 2017
State highway department officials said this kind of delay was typical for this time of year. Not only were the roads full of travelers returning to the Phoenix area from getaways, but many of those drivers were stopping at snow-play areas.
Icy hot spots: Flagstaff CVB map shows snow-play areas. Don't park along highways. Expect slow traffic on US 180.https://t.co/Uv9oJRWcyD pic.twitter.com/Vu8RqHPfoc
— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) January 2, 2017
Others, more dangerously, were parking on the shoulder of the road to get their hands on snow.
That added to lengthy lines on the roads.
.@ArizonaDOT Current views on 180 north of Flagstaff: pic.twitter.com/N8mvfacfr9
— Sarah (@sosarahsays) January 3, 2017
There were no state highway closures from construction work over the New Year’s Eve weekend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
