WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) -- As the winter kicks into full gear, the City of Wausau's Street Construction and Maintenence crew have plans in place to deal with the ice and snow.
At Thursday night's Capital Improvements and Street Maintenance Committee meeting, Ric Mohelnitzky, the Superintendent of Public Works, presented on the city's snow plow operations during a regular snow storm. A regular storm, according to Mohelnitzky, is anywhere from 2 to 4 inches.
Mohelnitzky describes the plan as, "We have 26 routes that we have split up and we try to get to priority plow routes done during the day to get people home. Then that crew goes home late afternoon, 5, 6 o'clock or so until about 11 pm, which that same crew comes back in and then does a full plow operation."
Anything snow storms above 4 inches are taken on by the entire crew to get all of the city done at one time. The priority routes are streets that have high traffic volumes or hills like Bridge St., Townline Rd., and Grand Ave.
Besides plowing and laying down salt, the crews also rely on a brine solution. Mohelnitzky says the brine solution helps tremendously with keeping the bond of the snow and ice off the pavement. It also works in lower temperatures than salt, which only works until 20 degrees. Anything below won't melt with salt, but will with the brine solution.
When snowplow crews are out on the road, Mohelnitzky says there are several ways drivers can help crews do their jobs. "Basically when we see us out there, try not to get to close and get right up behind us. Because you will be in our blind spot and we do seldom back up. I mean we do try to limit the backing, but sooner or later we have to. Also in when we group plow or if you see a plow going up a hill, don't follow too close."
While most areas of the city do benefit from snow plows, there is one kind of road that doesn't get winter maintenance. "In my career of 35 years, we have not plowed alleys. That has not been a winter maintenance item that we've had. And I know we get a lot of calls on that. I lived on a street in Wausau at one time that had an alley. And I had to find my own way to try and get that alley cleared." There are two exceptions to that rule, as the homes are landlocked to the alley.
The snow plow operation is a big undertaking as they cover nearly 100 miles of road, around 20 miles of sidewalks, and multiple lots during the winter. Mohelnitzky says he's blessed to have a great quality staff who are very dedicated to keeping people safe on the roads and sidewalks, even during the holiday season.
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