Stage 1 snow event complete

Residential hill routes finished early Tuesday morning

Brian Coddington, Communications Director, 509.625.6740

Tuesday, March 4, 2014 at 10:30 a.m.

City plowing on residential hill routes finished early Tuesday morning ending the Stage 1 snow event declared late Sunday.

Crews worked ahead of the storm that moved through Sunday to proactively apply deicer around the city. As the snowfall intensity increased, additional crews were called in to work the 55 pieces of equipment that were out across the city ahead of the Monday morning commute. The city has more than 2,100 lane miles, including 760 arterial lane miles.

“We monitored the storm closely, added resources to keep critical routes clear and open, and worked to minimize the impact on people moving around on Monday morning,” said Spokane Mayor David Condon.

Snow emergency routes, major arterials and hills and transit routes were the initial focus. Resources were added to the residential hill routes as part of the Stage 1 snow event. Deicer was applied to snow in the Central Business District to speed the melting process and plowed where necessary. Snow that had been plowed into parking areas or to the center of streets was spread out overnight to take advantage of temperatures that rose above freezing on Monday.

A Stage One Snow Event is declared when:
Two inches of snow are on the ground and four inches or more are anticipated during the current snow event. This declaration triggers a number of actions.

The City will:

  • Notify citizens of the snow event.
  • Plow arterials and fixed STA bus routes on a 20-hour schedule until complete.
  • Supplement Street crews with crews from other City departments, as needed.
  • Plow Neighborhood Business Districts to the curb, as part of the arterial routes.
  • Plow around hospitals and in medical district, as needed.
  • Plow residential hills (routes 20 and above).
  • Clear snow in Central Business District using deicer or by plowing to the center of the street.
  • Clear sidewalks around priority City-owned property within 24 hours.

Citizens are asked to:

  • Move parked cars off all arterials and fixed STA bus routes within 6 hours.
  • Move parked cars in residential hill routes (routes 20 and above) to the odd side of the street (for the current season)
  • Clear sidewalks of snow within 24 hours.

Further snow information: