Road Conditions Lead To Shake Up At St. Paul Public Works
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) - One of the Twin Cities is getting new snow plows and new leadership after last week's snowstorm.
Five days since the snow started falling, streets in Minneapolis and St. Paul are still caked in slippery ice.
Extremely cold temperatures haven't helped. Salt can melt five times as much ice at 30 degrees as at 20 degrees. However, when it's colder than that, it's pretty much useless.
But St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman isn't waiting for a warm-up. He's making changes in his public works department.
"[St. Paul has] always prided itself on the high quality of services it provides," Coleman said. "[But} the city did not live up to those expectations."
Joe Campbell, Mayor Coleman's spokesperson, says there have been many complaints from drivers since last week's storm.
"We heard from a number of different people, whether it was on Facebook, or on Twitter or calling our street maintenance 24-hour hotline, letting us know that we need to do some things differently," Campbell said.
The city will use a more expensive mix of salt, magnesium chloride and sand, which works better at colder temperatures.
They also plan on spending $2 million on new trucks.
Mayor Coleman urges residents to report problem areas to the 24-hour hotline, which is 651-266-9700.
