When 3 p.m. finally hit Friday for Ephraim Maintenance Supervisor Justin MacDonald, he was more than happy to call it a week.
It was last Sunday when local municipalities joined the Door County Highway Department in their efforts to keep roads open during a blizzard that dumped more than 30 inches of snow in some parts of the area.
Despite their efforts, parts of State Highway 42 had to be closed because heavy snow and drifting proved too much for road crews to keep up with.
It was not for a lack of effort, as MacDonald estimates that he — and likely others — spent about 80 hours last week just pushing snow.
As the fire chief for two departments, MacDonald said he slept in the village’s maintenance shop in case an emergency arose.
Eight years after the last “once-in-a-century storm,” MacDonald said he is proud of the work so many did over the last week to clean up after the blizzard.
Door County Highway Commissioner Thad Ash estimated Wednesday that storm cleanup would extend into this week as crews work to widen roads and push back snowbanks.
Assisting in their efforts has been Mother Nature, which has brought daily high temperatures above freezing since Thursday, including a few days in the 40s. As much as the heat will help, Ash could not say enough about his own crews that put in long days to fight against the storm.
Sturgeon Bay and Egg Harbor were two of the four communties to accumulate 33 or more inches of snow during the storm, trailing only Mountain's 34 inches for most snow.
