Minneapolis taking advantage of warmer weather to remove ice
MINNEAPOLIS – Crews in Minneapolis are taking advantage of the warmer weather to clear ice ruts in streets and alleys.
Minneapolis is using monster machines, like John Deere graders, to scrape ice off city streets.
It's been a frustrating winter for Sue Jackson in Minneapolis' Phillips neighborhood.
"It's very dangerous on these roads. I've almost had collisions multiple times," Jackson said. "I would like to see them actually give as much attention to this neighborhood as they do to all the others."
With the help of Mother Nature, the ice ruts on her street are starting to melt.
"We are trying everything that we can think of to try to smooth out those ruts," said Joe Paumen, director of the city's Transportation, Maintenance and Repair department.
Paumen said the warmer weather makes it easier to use their special equipment on the ice ridges.
"We do need to be careful with this so we don't score or destroy the actual pavement on the street," Paumen said.
He said anywhere between 40-50 pieces of equipment are on the roads every day. Priority goes to problem areas and 311 requests.
"We've been able to keep up with our 311 calls," he said. "I think in a day or two we are able to get to all of those."
Paumen said it's crucial drivers continue to follow one-sided parking rules. Under the winter parking restrictions, parking is only permitted on the even sides of roads that are not snow emergency routes.
"It's been kind of a nightmare," said UPS Driver Taylor Allery.
He says it's difficult to get through the streets when people don't follow one-sided parking rules.
"I would love to see them re-plow the streets when everything becomes slush because there's like 6 inches of ice on every street," Allery said.
"We understand it's challenging out there right now, and just want to let everybody know that we're doing the best we can and putting all of our equipment towards the effort," Paumen said.
The city says now is also a good time for homeowners to remove compacted ice and snow from sidewalks, trash bins and fire hydrants.
