JayLegger - I guess we aren't used to "snow left on the road" because even after a county plow we are left with 1-4" of snow, ice, slush that often remains on the ground for weeks at a time. This year has been the worst with the REALLY cold December for us leaving ice/snow on the road for about 5 weeks!
Like you, myself and neighbors regularly plow the roads down to within 1" of asphalt... (really as close as we can get) the county repairs our roads yearly where the plows accidentally rip off the asphalt. My first year swapping from my ATV to tractor I almost tore the entire road up from my driveway across it due to a chunk the county plow had taken out :-X whoops! Repaired next year.
My driveway is pretty long, dirt/mud off-camber, and up hill... as soon as we can afford to pave it I want to get a blower for the front of my M59 Then I plan to plow around 100' of road in front of my house since we live on a turn with 4' dirt wall the plow has no choice but to block about 1/4 of the road with the built-up snow, and shove a lot up my driveway!
How is the blower vs the plow in regard to getting down to asphalt?
I had to stop using the ATV after 1 year since it wore out all 4 springs, CV belt, and on bad days the snow would just go over the top of the plow onto me, lol. I`ll try to find some pics.
That weather has to make for a tough commute to work everyday!