'We're Treating This As A Top Tier Storm': Denver Plows Prepare For Side Street Passes
DENVER (CBS4) - Denver's Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, DOTI, prepared for heavy March snow all week. Now that it's finally falling, crews are ready to keep Denver's streets passable.
"We're treating this as a top tier storm, so that means we're going to have round-the-clock coverage. We're going to have our big plows address the main streets. We're going to have our smaller plows address the side-streets. And, we're also going to pull in our heavy equipment, in case we see some drifting snow," said Heather Burke, spokesperson for DOTI.
At 1 p.m., Burke reported that crews were deployed throughout the city. Initially, they worked on bridges and overpasses, which tend to ice up first. As snow started accumulating, plow blades would start clearing it.
"What will it take in terms of snow accumulation for plows to hit those residential streets?" asked CBS4's Kelly Werthmann.
"We always like to send out our smaller plows when they will be beneficial in pushing enough snow that will give people access to the main streets. So one thing to keep in mind about our smaller residential plows, they don't go to the bare pavement, and they don't drop de-icing material. So basically their goal is to prevent that deep ice rutting. So they'll just make that single path for every 12-hour shift," Burke replied.
The bigger plows will be clearing curb-to-curb on main city streets, which means that most of the bike lanes will also get cleared. DOTI does have a plan to clear protected bike lanes.
"We actually have a smaller plow that addresses those protected bike lanes. Our goal is to hit those bike lanes with the same frequency that our big plows hit the main streets. So our goal is to hit those protected bike lanes one or two passes per 12-hour shift," Burke told CBS4.
