If It Snows, City Of Lakewood 'Ready To Respond'

From the City of Lakewood:

Posted on Dec. 23, 2019

Don’t worry, there is no snow forecasted for the lowlands in the immediate future. But, if there was the city of Lakewood is ready!

Each year before winter arrives the city’s operations and maintenance division dusts off its inclement weather response equipment and tests it before bad weather hits.

The city does this to make sure everything works properly and to fix any equipment that may need a little extra TLC after being set aside for the spring, summer and fall.

After testing the equipment – and spending half a day reviewing the city’s inclement weather policies – crews hit the streets in the equipment.

Driving around while the roads are clear allows the city’s O&M team to see what, if any, changes may have been made over the summer to the roads. That could include the addition of curbs, gutter, sidewalks, etc.

It also familiarizes drivers with the routes so that if they are called out during a snowstorm they know where to go and any obstacles they could face.

The city has seven trucks to plow its 431-lane miles of roads. That includes three dump trucks with plows and the ability to spread sand from the back, and four, 1-ton trucks with attachable plows. Three sanders are available for these 1-ton trucks that distribute sand from the pickup bed.

In total the city has a 10,000-gallon brine tank and 150 to 200 tons of salt in reserve ready to respond.

During the February 2019 snow storm our small O&M crew worked 12-hour shifts, with trucks plowing the roads almost continuously through the weekend as record levels of snow fell. Because of the heavy snowfall most of the attention was given to the city’s priority routes, including main thoroughfares and arterials, and not smaller residential streets.

Below is a map that lists the priority routes the city will plow or respond to with brine or sand, should a snow storm or ice event impact the city. Roads lined in red are the first priority, followed by the roads in blue as second priority and then the roads in yellow marked as third priority.

While residents may not always see plows/city trucks out during a snow event, know that crews are responding and doing their best to make our roads passable for drivers.

What to do if you see a plow

If you encounter a plow while driving during a snow storm follow this advice:

If it is a four-lane road, and a plow is behind you, pull to the right lane of travel to let the plow pass. This allows the plow to continue pushing snow from the inside lane of travel. Once the plow passes pull back into the plowed lane of travel. Make sure to give plenty of following distance (200 feet minimum).

Do not pass plows, as this slows their ability to make the roadway safer for cars to travel.

This press release was produced by the City of Lakewood. The views expressed here are the author’s own.