A couple of weeks ago, I posted a link to Orem's snowplowing policy. Since that time, I have received emails asking about Orem's snowplowing policy. I decided to post a response (with permission) Steve Weber, a division manager in Orem's Public Works department, wrote to a resident.
Dear (name withheld):
Your email pertaining to the City's street snow removal strategy was forwarded to me. We appreciate your concerns and I hope I can address them in this email. I also received your second email pertaining to those streets that maybe weren't cleared as good as they could have been the first time but we did get to them later. For future reference, I thought I would send you a brief overview of our snow removal program and challenges. If you still have questions or need further information, please give me a call. Also, if there is a specific address where a problem exists, please let us know and we will take care of it. (Stan Orme, Street Section Manager @ 229-7534 or myself @ 229-7530)
Snow removal can be a difficult issue to deal with on a City wide basis. There are over 230 center line miles of city streets, which equates to over 500 lane miles. As an example of reference, St. George is 260 miles from Orem. So, what we are trying to do is keep a lane of traffic open from Orem to St. George and back during a snow storm over varying types of terrain and weather conditions.
Street terrain is a factor and it varies from the very flat, which encompasses most of the City, to the very steep hills of northeast and west Orem. Other factors that are taken into consideration are the types of streets, (arterial, collector, and residential), the storm itself (intensity, duration, wind, etc.), time of day that a storm hits Orem, as well as the cost to Orem's taxpayers.
Arterial streets are the major arteries which carry the highest traffic volumes as well as higher traffic speeds. These include Center Street, 1600 North, 800 South, 800 East as examples. Residential streets comprise the greatest number of miles but also have the lowest priority in most cases simply because they don't carry large volumes of traffic. However, there are exceptions. These exceptions include the steep hilly streets of north and northeast Orem, as well as along the west side and south where streets drop off the bench into the lower flat lands of the valley. We also consider streets by schools, churches, and hospitals and making sure these are open and safe traffic movement.
A storm's intensity, duration, as well as the air temperature and wind play a role in how we can deal with street snow removal. If a storm arrives just as the morning or evening commute is happening, makes our job more difficult and puts more pressure on the streets carrying the higher traffic volumes. If winds are a factor, then drifting snow can cover a street just as fast as we can clear it. How much snow is falling and at what rate plays a role in our ability to keep streets open and safe. On Monday, December 22nd for example, in about 90 minutes to 2 hours, Orem received between 6-8 inches, depending on location. That is an average of 3-4 inches per hours coming down. On average we may receive 3-4 inches in an average storm over a 24-36 hour period.
Currently our policy is not to have a 'bare pavement policy' when it comes to snow removal. What is a 'bare pavement policy'? It is a policy whereby an agency employs measures necessary to removal or eliminate all snow from its streets or highways. UDOT has a bare pavement policy largely due to the type of highways/freeways they are empowered to maintain. They carry huge volumes of traffic at much higher speeds which are considered major transportation corridors for interstate transportation as well as commuters. Bare pavement policy comes at a higher price. It takes more equipment, manpower, and material to maintain these types of streets. Our main goal in providing snow removal is for the safe movement of traffic throughout Orem. Not necessarily maintaining 'bare pavement'.
"How can we provide the best service yet not burden the taxpayer?" Winters vary from year to year. There have been winters in the past in which we received very little snow. Other years or periods, just like the past couple of weeks, we have received large amounts of snow. For example, on Monday, December 22nd, Orem and most of Utah County received upwards of 10-12 inches in a very short period of time. However, Salt Lake City received very little snow. Snow storms are much like thunderstorms, hit and miss. The so called 'lake effect' plays a role in how much snow we may or may not receive. We have a choice, we can plan and staff for storms like the one we received on December 22nd, and have the capability of dealing with every street in a quick manner, or we can staff and equip for the average snow storm. We choose the later simply because it is the one we get most often and has less impact on the taxpayers of Orem. There is no sense in purchasing equipment or having personnel which may or may not be utilized depending on the weather.
For most snow storms that come our way, I feel we do a very good job. In many cases, many streets do get down to bare pavement. Today if you look at Center Street, 800 East, 400 East, as well as many others, there is no snow except along the shoulders. Traffic is able to move smoothly, and safely at normal traffic speeds. However, because we staff and equip for the average snow storm, when a large or heavy storm hits the City, like it did on December 22nd, we aren't able to get to every street in a timely manner. On December 22nd, snow was coming down so fast that when we finished plowing and/or salting a street, it needed to be done again. We just couldn't keep up with it until we got a break in the storm, then it still took us the next couple of days just to catch up and finally get into the residential streets. However, by that time, the local traffic had compacted the snow and the cold temperatures turned it into ice in many locations and even though we did plow and put down salt at intersections throughout the night and into the next day, it is impossible to remove it. In many cases, we just have to wait for mother nature to warm things up and eventually help melt it.
When large storms, such as the one that occurred on December 22nd, hit Orem, we also employ other city crews from other Departments. We have employed members of the Water Section with clearing city streets over the past several days. In some, rare cases, we will hire private contractors, such as Geneva Rock for example, to help. Such was not the case last Monday, December 22nd, but that option is available to us and we have used it in the past.
I hope I have been able to address your concern and answer some of your questions. As I stated earlier, if you know of a specific problem/location, please let me know and we will response and see what we can do to resolve it. We too don't want a situation whereby someone can be hurt or serious damage can occur. In between storms we continue to work on problem areas as well as keeping our equipment prepared for the next storm.
If I can respond to any questions you may still have or if you need further information, please contact me.
Sincerely, Stephen Weber
seweber@orem.org
Division Manager
Department of Public Works
801-229-7530
