Emergency Snow Route in Hastings, (City of Hastings, Courtesy)
HASTINGS — Because snow and ice removal is essential to our community and provides safety for life and property; staff members dedicate time, money, planning, coordination and effort to monitoring and improving the process.
So, snow removal operations are planned and considered all year long.
The City Street Department has 516 lane miles for snow removal – plus 47 cul-de-sacs and 14 parking lots. The Street Department receives assistance from other city departments as well as contractors (when available) to complete snow removal.
Keys to the snow removal plan include equipment, routes, operators, spotters, contractors and coordination with other departments and other institutions.
Typically, snow removal is preceded by up to 5 hours for material spreading of a salt/sand mixture to address icing that occurs as snow starts.
Plowing emergency snow routes normally takes 8-hours and can sometimes take up to 12 hours depending on the snow. All emergency snow routes are marked with signs. During a snow emergency, parking is not allowed on these streets.
The timeframe for snow removal depends on the amount of snow, type of snow, timing of snow, future snow forecast, winds, assistance from other city departments and availability of contractors. This also means snow phase priorities can change.
There are four phases of snow removal:
- Phase 1 – Material spreading sand/salt mixture in intersections, inclined areas, steep grades, around schools and where needed.
- Phase 2 – Plowing all emergency snow routes and continued material spreading. Phase 2 is a snow removal emergency declaration (usually the snowfall total is at least 3 inches but could be less if there is a lot of wind and drifting snow). The mayor declares the snow emergency based on a recommendation from staff from Engineering, Police and Streets.
- Phase 3 – Residential snow removal: Snow plowing and material spreading throughout the entire town. Parking lot clean up.
- Phase 4 – Downtown snow removal – Burlington Avenue to Minnesota Avenue (between First Street and Fifth Street). This is the Central Business District and with no storage area for snow and limited drainage, the snow is plowed and then picked up and hauled away. This phase is typically done separate from the other phases.
Equipment available for snow removal includes the following:
- 8 Dump trucks with mounted snowplows
- 3 Motor graders
- 5 Front end loaders (3 with plows)
- 4 Material spreaders (1 is mounted on a pickup)
- 1 Tractor with plow
- 1 Compact track loader
- 2 Snow blowers
- 3 Pickup trucks with plows
- 2 Backhoes
Contractors (when available: 4 plows, 2 loaders, 8 trucks for hauling only)
The public (homeowners, business owners and snow removal contractors) can help by blowing or pushing snow onto the yard instead of the street. Not only does pushing snow onto the street cause a traffic hazard, but it’s also counterproductive to the goal of clearing snow off public streets so the streets can be safely used.
The City of Hastings also asks crews performing snow removal operations to remember that snow piles at intersections are also a sight concern for intersection safety.
Other complications to snow removal include vehicles parked in areas that have yet to be cleared including on streets and in parking lots. Vehicles can return to these areas following snow removal.
More information about snow removal, including the Emergency Snow Route Map, is available on the City of Hastings website at: www.cityofhastings.org/departments/street-department/maintenance/snow-removal/ ; as well as on EngageHastings at https://engage.cityofhastings.org/snow-removal .
