DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — After the blizzard hit, transit drivers faced nearly impossible conditions. Some stayed on the roads, trying to keep essential rides running on snow-covered streets, while others were trapped at home, unable to get out of their driveways.
Janet McNew has been driving for Door2Door Rides, Door County’s public shared ride service, for the past ten years.
During the blizzard on Sunday, she stayed out on the roads, making sure passengers still got to their destinations.
She described the road conditions as nearly impossible.
"The snow was drifting so much across the roads that you couldn't even tell how deep the snow was," Janet McNew said.
At one point on the road, she became stuck while picking up a passenger.
"I was picking up one gentleman and I got stuck, really stuck." She said, "he actually took his shovel and shoveled me out, ran to Kwik Trip, even got me a big bag of salt."
The storm had Jim Konop, a DoorTran driver, snowed in at home since Friday, keeping him off the roads.
"Both my front and my side door of the house was blocked in. I had probably three and a half feet of snow in front of each door," Jim Konop said.
It took him seven hours to clear his driveway on Wednesday, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to make it to a scheduled rider.
"I wasn't sure if I was, you know, going to be out," Konop said.
Door2Door Rides and DoorTran both closed Sunday because of the storm, but service has now resumed.
Although snow banks still line many streets across the county, drivers say it’s a relief to finally see the pavement and get back on the roads.
