Winter Weather
The City of Rockville is preparing for this year's winter weather.
The city is running training operations with snow and ice operators, going over the new revised salt and plow routes, and preparing equipment by putting plows on the front of trucks and filling the back of them with salt.
Despite having a mild winter last year and not having to plow any snow, Rockville is taking the necessary precautions to avoid snow pileups and icy roadways with several new features to the public works facilities in order to better respond to storms.
According to Craig Simoneau, Director of Public Works, two trucks are now capable of liquid dispensing salt brine the day or two before a storm which allows salt contact with the roadway prior to snowfall.
“What's good about that is sometimes if the storm comes very quickly and we can't get out there and put the salt on there, it gives the motor republic a little more safe assurance that [the roadway] is not going to freeze up on them as quickly.”
The City is also using beet juice, something that has been done for the past three years, that allows salt to stick to the roadways so that it has more of a lasting effect.
A new policy among public works officials is to keep the new, bigger salt barn full at all times in order to assure amply supply in case of a storm. After the back to back snow storms of 2010, the City was lacking in salt, proving how important it is to make sure an apply supply is ready in order to avoid depletion before a storm or before all roadways are salted.
Additionally, this year Rockville is investing in two new trucks that will have more pushing power capability which is needed during very heavy storms.
“These are bigger trucks, bigger plows,” Simoneau said. “They are going to be out there on some of our main roads. We hope to take delivery somewhere in December so before the end of this winter, we hope to have those two trucks available to us for the Whooton Parkways, the Maryland Avenues, those major roads to keep that going and keep the heavy snow pushed so we don't get stuck there.”
Lastly, Rockville is also in the process of purchasing a new system called the Automatic Vehicle Locating System which will allow both public works staff as well as the public to know where trucks have plowed or salted. This system will help with productivity, and the City is hoping to have it in place before the end of the winter.
With these existing and new features in place, the City of Rockville hopes to better serve its residents in the face of winter storms.
Published in the November 2012 addition of Rockville Reports