Marlene Feist, Public Works Director of Strategic Development, 509.625.6505
Monday, October 16, 2017 at 3:46 p.m.
Mayor David Condon, Council Member Amber Waldref, and other City officials rolled out the City’s revised Snow Response Plan, designed to respond to concerns raised by citizens after last year’s cold and snowy winter.
More plowing in more areas sooner is the centerpiece of the revamped plan. When it snows, even if it’s just an inch or two, crews will plow all of the streets, including residential streets. We’ll do that on the day shift, Monday through Friday, when crews from our water and wastewater utilities are more available. When it snows more than that, we will still move to 24/7 operations, but we’ll complete a full-City plow in about 3 days—that’s about a day less than before.
We’re also implementing a pilot program to take on driveway berms. We’ll add gates to 7 pieces of equipment including some new front-end loaders. We’ll rotate their use throughout the season so more residents will have an opportunity to see how they work. Those loaders also should make us more agile as we plow.
We’re going to plow a little differently, moving away from the curb a bit to keep more snow off of sidewalks, too. And, we’re working with our schools, our medical facilities, and STA to prioritize routes.
The new plan isn’t just about plowing schedules, though. It’s really designed to be a collaboration between citizens and the City.
That starts with parking on the odd side of the street for the entire snow season, from Nov. 15 to March 15. We are asking people to make it habit for the entire season to park on the odd side of the street.
We’re also asking people to get their RV and boats off the street now and into a winter storage location.
Downtown, we’ll see some different parking rules. After it snows, we’ll ask cars to move off the street between midnight and 6 a.m. so we can clear out the parking bays and the street.
We’re also asking our citizens and businesses to be diligent about clearing sidewalks, with a goal of creating a 36-inch clear path by 9 a.m. after a snowfall. These are important pedestrian routes for our school children, bus riders, disabled individuals, and more. Working with Spokane Public Schools, we also have identified key walking routes around the schools. We will conduct an emphasis to get these routes cleared.
These are just some highlights. See the news release on the revised plan. Check out all the Snow Response Plan details on the Street Department’s snow page.
