After receiving numerous calls with questions regarding the City of Rolla’s snow plowing operations, route schedules, and degree of snow clearing capabilities, Public Works Director Steve Hargis and City staff have launched a public information campaign that will involve traditional media, the City of Rolla’s Website and City’s Facebook site. Detailed snow route and salting route maps of Rolla are also available via the City’s Website at www.rollacity.org.
Winter weather for us usually starts with the arrival of a fax, e-mail and phone call to the Public Works Department from our weather service Accuweather. Salt has been preordered during the summer months. In the early fall snow route maps are updated and distributed to employees. Supervisors have had the equipment serviced and have reviewed procedures with all crews well in advance of the inclement weather. Plows and salt spreaders are attached to equipment and dump truck spreaders are loaded with a mixture of salt, sand and sawdust. The crews begin their new work scheduled of 12-hour shifts until the roads are clear.
The City of Rolla is approximately 12-square miles in area and contains over 110 miles of streets as well as public parking lots. This is a monumental undertaking and requires the cooperation of employees from the Street Division, Traffic Division, Concrete Division and the Wastewater Division.
At the onset of winter weather, streets are pre-treated as much as possible with a mixture of sawdust, salt, and sand. Sugar beet juice is also added to give this mixture more melting power at lower temperatures. When the snow or sleet begins, the trucks and employees move into action. With such a large number of streets to maintain, there are two individual types of operations that are employed to clear the roadways; Dump Truck routes and Pickup Plow routes.
The City of Rolla is divided in to six separate zones classified as “Dump Truck” routes. The streets located within these routes are typically well traveled and include everything from major collectors to residential roadways. The Dump Truck routes are plowed by….Dump Trucks. These trucks are equipped with large plows and a bed full of salt. Each zone is assigned two employees. An employee will work a straight 12-hour shift at which point the second employee will begin his shift.
Each street within the zone is plowed and treated with salt. The larger arterial and collector streets are considered primary routes and will be the first to receive treatment, including emergency vehicle routes. Secondary streets will be treated when all primary routes have been plowed.
The Dump Trucks are large and difficult to maneuver in smaller areas such as cul-de-sacs and parking lots. This creates a need for “Pickup Plow” routes. These are maintained by pickup trucks and bobcats with plows attached. Each of the five Pickup Plow zones is assigned two employees working the same 12-hour shift as the Dump Truck drivers.
“These Rolla City employees are dedicated to keeping the streets in town as safe as possible and take pride in their work,” said Steve Hargis, Director of Public Works. “During the recent winter storm, several employees went so far as to bring an extra change of clothing with them in case they were unable to return home or their replacement could not make it to work.”
The Public Works Department asks that citizens please be patient. “It is not always possible to clear the streets to bare asphalt,” said Hargis. “This last storm was almost four inches of solid ice and very difficult to plow.”
Keep in mind that primary routes must be plowed first to ensure that emergency vehicles can reach their destination. And if at all possible, please park your vehicles/trucks off the street and avoid shoveling your driveway until the plows have gone by.
For more information, and to view a series of snow plowing route maps (primary and secondary) and salting route maps throughout the City of Rolla, please visit www.rollacity.org. For more information on Emergency Preparedness and Planning, please visit www.rollaciry.org/emergency. To contact the Public Works Dept. throughout the work week (8 a.m.– 5 p.m.), please call 364-8659.
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