Everyone loves to talk about the weather but few can do much about it. As it does every year, the city of Boulder's Public Works Department is busy preparing for whatever winter might have in store. Boulder winters are unpredictable, and we'll have snow crews on call 24-hours a day, seven days a week to respond to changing weather conditions. During snow storms, there are 16 plow trucks on Boulder streets. Seven of them distribute a liquid de-icer, and nine spreader trucks distribute traction materials.
Plows push the snow to the center lane where space is available.
If space is not available, the snow is pushed to the side of the street. A liquid de-icer is used on both streets and bike paths. The city also applies de-icing agents to streets and bridges for ice and snow control. Streets are pretreated before a storm to reduce the build-up of snow and ice. The liquid de-icer may also be applied throughout a storm to continue melting the snow pack.