SNOW MAC TG?

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dragoonusa

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Several Colorado State Patrol Troopers were En-route to Summit County for an Operation and will be switching to "SNOW MAC" anyone know what this TG is or what it is used for?
 

dw2872

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I'm away from the computer but I thought we already figured that one out? I'll try to take a look.
 

dw2872

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Ok yeah it is TG-8820. Steve has it updated on his TrunkingLogs website.

RR may have it as CDOT SnowTac.
 

rfburns

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Snow MAC is not just CDOT. It is a MAC. Hwy 2, callsign 502, is the current IC on Snow MAC. CSP 4C currently on there with the closure at Silverthorne. Motorists taking the closure into their own hands and removing the orange cones and driving thru. CSP says the highway has to be reopened due to the situation. EJ dispatch trying to switch comms to dispatch from the MAC to cell phones.

CSP Trooper says only 1 CDOT plow working all of Clear Creek Co (except for those assigned to the EJ approach). CSP car is stuck on I-70 and expecting the Interstate to be at a stop soon.
 

dw2872

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Who's in charge? CDOT or CSP? I don't think they want the public to listen to them argue about that over the air. It sounds like it would be more convenient and efficient over SNOW MAC but not for public consumption?

Especially after the recent fiasco with them blaming the public for the mess on I-70 causing some drivers' trips lasting 8 hours or so (was it between Vail and Denver?).

I didn't read CDOTs press release blaming the public nor do I know what is really going on out there (so feel free to correct me; I won't be offended) but if they start saying let's hide these conversations and operations from the public and go to cell phones then it sure seems like they need some public oversight. Too bad the press does not listen to SnowMAC. I'm sure it would be an eye-opener.
 
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natedawg1604

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A few questions:

1. First and Foremost, I want to submit a DB update request to RR for TG 8820 (unless somebody else already has). It appears this TG should be called "Snow MAC", is that the best name for this TG? I'm also wondering if this TG should be placed under the Statewide Mutual Aid Section.

2. Who is the person/entity using the call sign "Highway 2"? Is that a "dedicated" CDOT dispatcher, and if so, where are they located? Or is more like "Aurora Base" which comes and goes and at seemingly random intervals, such that even CDOT trucks aren't aware when "Aurora Base" goes out of service/off the air.
 

natedawg1604

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Snow MAC is not just CDOT. It is a MAC. Hwy 2, callsign 502, is the current IC on Snow MAC. CSP 4C currently on there with the closure at Silverthorne. Motorists taking the closure into their own hands and removing the orange cones and driving thru. CSP says the highway has to be reopened due to the situation. EJ dispatch trying to switch comms to dispatch from the MAC to cell phones.

CSP Trooper says only 1 CDOT plow working all of Clear Creek Co (except for those assigned to the EJ approach). CSP car is stuck on I-70 and expecting the Interstate to be at a stop soon.

It sounds like the actual plow trucks working on the EJT-related activities with CSP did not have access to, or were otherwise not using, Snow MAC. Rather, "Highway 2" had to relay information to the plow trucks. I wonder if that was "intentional", such that Snow Mac is only given to CDOT supervisors along with CSP?
 
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k0pwo

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In the portable radio that I have access to the talkgroup is named snowmac on the alpha display of the radio just for FYI
 

Steve2003

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It sounds like the actual plow trucks working on the EJT-related activities with CSP did not have access to, or were otherwise not using, Snow MAC. Rather, "Highway 2" had to relay information to the plow trucks. I wonder if that was "intentional", such that Snow Mac is only given to CDOT supervisors along with CSP?

CSP was definitely using TGID 8820 yesterday. They were even referring to it as SNOWMAC. Here is some of the audio I captured yesterday for anyone who is interested:

TG-8820_SNOW MAC.zip
(note that my BCD996XT was recording other groups at the same time so there may be some audio gaps in the recordings)
 

abqscan

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A few questions:

1. It appears this TG should be called "Snow MAC", is that the best name for this TG? I'm also wondering if this TG should be placed under the Statewide Mutual Aid Section.

Done and Done.
 

rfburns

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A few questions:

2. Who is the person/entity using the call sign "Highway 2"? Is that a "dedicated" CDOT dispatcher, and if so, where are they located? .
Highway 2 is the callsign for a person. I believe Highway 502 is the same person. Hwy 2 was the Incident Commander Sunday. When I was listening he was in EJ Dispatch.
 

rfburns

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It sounds like the actual plow trucks working on the EJT-related activities with CSP did not have access to, or were otherwise not using, Snow MAC. Rather, "Highway 2" had to relay information to the plow trucks. I wonder if that was "intentional", such that Snow Mac is only given to CDOT supervisors along with CSP?
9 Paul trucks were told to switch to SnowMAC which they did. About ten minutes after the last transmission to switch to SnowMAC, everyone was told to use cell phones to contact dispatch. Plows working the east side were going to the "box" on the west side to turn around and then traffic was released to follow the plows. I believe that is at MM 209. At least that was the plan. It sounded like it turned into a free for all when motorists got tired of waiting and started moving the orange cones out of the way so that they could drive thru. That was when the CSP Sgt said the highway had to be opened. I believe that was S99, a Frisco Sgt. I haven't listened to Steve's recording yet, but he may have captured all of this.

To answer another question, CDOT has the final word on the closures. During the winter there are fascinating arguments about the status of highways particularly Rabbit Ears Pass which was closed until Monday morning. The coordination seems to have improved during the last week. I suspect Hick got involved.

KMGH has an investigative piece on their website.
 

dw2872

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9 Paul trucks were told to switch to SnowMAC which they did. About ten minutes after the last transmission to switch to SnowMAC, everyone was told to use cell phones to contact dispatch. Plows working the east side were going to the "box" on the west side to turn around and then traffic was released to follow the plows. I believe that is at MM 209. At least that was the plan. It sounded like it turned into a free for all when motorists got tired of waiting and started moving the orange cones out of the way so that they could drive thru. That was when the CSP Sgt said the highway had to be opened. I believe that was S99, a Frisco Sgt. I haven't listened to Steve's recording yet, but he may have captured all of this.

To answer another question, CDOT has the final word on the closures. During the winter there are fascinating arguments about the status of highways particularly Rabbit Ears Pass which was closed until Monday morning. The coordination seems to have improved during the last week. I suspect Hick got involved.

KMGH has an investigative piece on their website.

About what time was the transmission asking them to use cell phones to contact dispatch? Steve's recordings that were posted go from 5:41 pm to 9:23 pm, but as he already said, some transmissions may have been missed. I didn't hear any of what was mentioned above in those transmissions.

Yes, S99 is a 4C troop area Sgt out of the Summit County post in Frisco. He transmits on a radio with radio ID of 241917

"Eisenhower Control" uses radio ID 163455 and it sounded like they had the plan and were airing it at various times for everyone and asked for acknowledgments from everyone. Just to avoid any confusion, I've heard CSP S-99 call them "Eisenhower Command" and then heard Highway-2 call them "Eisenhower Tunnel" but they call themselves "Eisenhower Control". They should all just probably use the callsign "Eisenhower" for them :)

"TOC Golden" (ITS) is one station that acknowledged the plan (using a radio with ID 163095)

"Highway-2" was using radio ID 115794 and callsign "C-6" was using 242085.

"CSP 4C5" and "4C22" were two troopers that were doing the escorts of traffic to keep them behind the snowplows after they were released during a couple runs that you can hear on Steve's recordings.

"Ops-1" and "R-53" (a CSP corporal) were also in the mix.

Here is Molly Hendrickson's story, the CDOT investigative report from KMGH posted on Feb 14th and updated yesterday:

7NEWS - CDOT plow driver blames I-70 nightmare on supply shortage - Local Story
 
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