According to the Department of Public Works, up to 27 full time employees could be out plowing snow during an emergency, covering 267.56 centerline miles of roads.  Mary Laundroche, the Director of Public Information, says the city’s goal is to get the plowing completed in a 12 hour period, but sometimes the severity of the snow might make such a task difficult. 

“We’ve always had excellent snow plowing operation and that 12 hour standard is a pretty high standard to meet and we’ve pretty much been able to keep to it,” says Laundroche.  In the future, residents can also call the city’s snow removal hotline to get an update on their street plowing at 313.943.2444. 

Below is a breakdown of Dearborn’s snow operations during last week’s severe snow emergency.

Sunday, January 5  •  Snow fall-10.2″

Road crews consisting of 15 people/trucks were called in from 7:00 am to 5:30 pm. These crews were able to keep the city’s primary roads snow free until approximately 4:00 pm when the snowfall increased. The midnight crew, consisting of three people/trucks came in early at 7:30 pm and worked to keep roads clear until 4:00 am on Monday.

 

Monday, January 6  •  Snow fall: .80″

Road crews consisting of 34 people/trucks from several DPW divisions were called in at 4:00 am  to 5:30 pm. These crews were assigned to plow all city streets from curb to curb. This included all the dead-ends and cul-de-sacs. The parking lot and public building sidewalk contractors both worked from 3:00 am until they finished. The midnight crew was assigned to salt the parking lots and one street section.

 

Tuesday, January 7  •  Snow fall: .00″

Normally after plowing, the streets are salted. At temperatures below 0 F salt is ineffective. It has a tendency to melt just the top layer of snow and then freeze, thus creating a “Black Ice” condition. A decision was made to re-plow the street curb lines. The main reason being that the anticipated weather for the upcoming weekend (Jan. 10th -13th) called for rain which must drain to the catch basins to avoid flooding and possible freezing. Twelve trucks were assigned to curb lines, while other crews worked at clearing snow from public buildings, and city parking lots.

 

Wednesday, January 8  •  Snow fall:  .00”                 

Midnight crews were assigned to begin salting city streets. Day shift road crews were then assigned to salt the balance of the city’s thirteen salt sections. This process will continue until all city streets and business alleys are salted. At press time, crews are still in the process of hauling snow and will continue until complete or weather conditions dictate otherwise.