And there are some disadvantages to working many miles from services city and suburban workers take for granted. There are no shopping malls in Borrego Valley, no huge medical centers or multi-plex theaters. There are also no freeways, rush hour traffic or parking crunches. But the weather creates its own problems for the crew. Winds blow sand on the roads that must be cleaned.
Rainwater sends mud down washes and creates flash floods that knock down berms and close roads.
During the winter, snows block passes in the nearby mountains and Borrego s road crew plows them too. There are not a lot of alternate routes around here, so when we close a road for repair or to plow snow, we have to plan well and work efficiently so we can keep customer inconvenience to a minimum. Borrego may be remote but, as McManama says, it s always an interesting place to work. Sometimes it s the simplest ideas that answer complicated questions. Just ask Joe Moore of Traffic.