January 9, 2025:
The South Dakota Department of Transportation (SDDOT) announces winners of the annual Snowplow Naming Contest. The contest was created as a fun way to engage people across the state in winter driving safety awareness and preparedness. The contest continues to provide an opportunity to encourage winter driving safety awareness for South Dakotans. This year, three of the winning entries were named by elementary classrooms in the communities of Custer, Pierre and Winner.
“I want to thank our SDDOT winter maintenance staff for their dedicated efforts to keep our roads clear and travelers safe during winter weather,” said Transportation Secretary Joel Jundt. “We strive to be the primary resource for South Dakota travelers throughout the year. I thank all travelers who regularly use SD511 to guide their travel decisions, whether during a winter storm or summer construction.”SDDOT staff voted on the submissions once the naming contest ended in December. All previously named snowplows are in active use within the SDDOT fleet across the state.
Following are the 2024-2025 contest winning names for SDDOT’s snowplows:
Aberdeen Area: Thaw Enforcement;
Belle Fourche Area: Salty;
Custer Area: Plowy;
Huron Area: Plowabunga;
Mitchell Area: Clear-a-Patha;
Mobridge Area: Polar Plow;
Pierre Area: Capital Drift;
Rapid City Area: Albert Icestein;
Sioux Falls Area: Frost and Flurrious;
Watertown Area: Hans Snowlo;
Winner Area: Thaw Patrol; and
Yankton Area: Catch My Drifts.
Additional information, including the names of those who provided the winning name submission by area, is available on the SDDOT contest website at SDDOT Snowplow Contest. Over the next couple of months, the contest winners will officially meet and take photos with their locally named snowplow. Photos and local stories will be shared on the SDDOT contest page as well as on social media.
December 2, 2024:
The South Dakota Department of Transportation is taking entries for its 5th annual Snowplow Naming Contest.
The entry deadline is Friday (Dec. 6, 2024). Once voting closes, the SDDOT will announce one officially named snowplow within each of its 12 geographic areas across South Dakota.
The contest has drawn about 700 submissions each year since it began four years ago. As part of the contest, SDDOT also creates snowplow and winter driving weather awareness coloring sheets, crossword puzzles, and word finds for families and classrooms. Those can be found at https://dot.sd.gov/snowplow.
The SDDOT provides the latest road condition and construction information using the https://www.sd511.org website, by calling 511 or by using the free SD511 app. People can also sign up for customized notifications, free of charge, that allows users to receive text messages and/or email notifications with road closure updates and travel advisories along routes of your choice.
Additionally, the SDDOT has recently established an expanded partnership with counties and tribes. This winter, those entities will be able to enter “No Travel Advisories” and “Road Closures” directly into the SD511 Traveler Information System.
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