Following are some of the criteria we use which may help you better understand our snow and ice fighting procedures. Also there are some helpful hints to minimize the inconvenience of the snow and ice of the winter season. The second priority is given to streets that are arteries to different sections of the City and known problem areas. After the first two areas are clear, we move on to the residential streets. This is the order used for both salting and plowing.
Many factors affect the efficiency of salt as a melting agent.
The temperature of the atmosphere, the amount of traffic and the build up of ice and snow will all affect it's ability to melt the ice and snow. If the temperature at that time is below 20 degrees F and the sun is not out, we add calcium chloride to the salt to enhance it's melting properties. Depending on the severity of the storm and the weather forecast the entire length of every street might be salted or as little as only the problem areas might be salted. All traveled lanes of the roadway will be plowed and then, if conditions warrant, we will plow all streets curb to curb. Many of these streets have more than one lane giving us additional surface to clear.