As we approach the upcoming winter/spring season, staff is planning the operations in the Street section based upon direction from Council. Discussion items are:

• Proposed snow policy
• Cindering procedure
• Sweeping operation plan

During the FY14 budget process $100,000 of one-time money was reallocated to snow operations and $40,000 of ongoing money was reallocated to street sweeping. Staff has identified how service levels could be increased based upon this discussion.


Discussion for snow plowing policy plan

One element for consideration is different plowing techniques: when to deploy the entire fleet and at what depth of snow.  On average, equipment gets deployed on 22 snow events during the season, approximately half of these are of significance.  At the beginning of the season the storms are usually smaller and less frequent but occasionally we receive significant storms. Historically, January and February are the coldest months and we have more frequent storms; the sooner we plow will help mitigate ice buildup.  
 
Cost savings are found by not having all the equipment on the road until necessary; this includes motor graders and loaders. These pieces of equipment are specialized for getting into cul de sacs, for example.
 
Staff will present scenarios based on different plowing techniques, when to deploy the entire fleet, at what depth and we will plan accordingly.

Option 1:

From the beginning of the season to the end of December plow secondary priority areas when 4" of snow has accumulated.

From the end of December through the end of February plow secondary priority areas when 3" of snow has accumulated.

From the end of February to the end of the season plow secondary priority areas when 4" of snow has accumulated.

To be clear, 3"-4" of accumulation per storm is when we deploy motor graders to secondary priority areas and it will take time to complete the routes depending on the storm and when snowfall ends.

Option 2:

Any accumulation below 4" plow one pass each way through collector roads in secondary priority areas. This would not include all secondary priority roads, as most are local residential roads. This could generate many complaints from the public as the entire road will not be plowed and citizens will have to shovel out into the street. When we reach the 4" of accumulation, all the equipment would be deployed, the snow would be pushed back utilizing motor graders as the trucks would not be able to move the frozen snow and it would be time consuming and this would create large chunks of ice and snow into driveway entrances. Mail and Trash/Recycle services would be impacted due to the unplowed roadway and snow berms. This would created an inequity to citizens and may be viewed as inconsistent as not all roads in an area would be plowed due to traffic volumes and classification. The time line for all areas to get plowed would increase after we reach the 4" of accumulation. An approximate cost could be an additional $60,000 to the $100,000 that was reallocated.   

Option 3:

Any accumulation below 4" plow one pass each way through all secondary priority areas except cul de sacs, as the plow trucks cannot make the turning radius in them.This could generate many complaints from the public as the entire road will not be plowed and citizens will have to shovel out into the street. This would be costly.When we reach the 4" of accumulation, all the equipment would be deployed.  The snow would be pushed back utilizing motor graders as the trucks would not be able to move the frozen snow.  It would be time consuming and this would create large chunks of ice and snow into driveway entrances. Mail and Trash/Recycle services would be impacted due to the unplowed roadway and snow berms. This would be inequitable to citizens as most all roads would be plowed one pass each way except cul de sacs. It would increase the time line for all areas to get plowed after we reach the 4" of accumulation. An approximate cost could be an additional $100,000 to the $100,000 that was reallocated.  

The current snow policy that was adopted by Council set the following time frames:
0-4"             First priorities only
4" to 8"        Second priorities within 12 hours after snowfall ends
8" to 12"      Second priorities within 18 hours after snowfall ends
Over 12"      Second priorities within 36 hours after snowfall ends

This was modified last season to reflect the 4" snow policy; it could be modified for this season depending on the outcome of direction and could be posted on the website for the public.

First priorities consist of the following:

• Main arterials/collectors
• Major hills
• Downtown area
• NAIPTA bus routes
• FUSD bus routes   

The Street section tries to keep the first priority roads open and passable at all times. Second priorities consist of residential areas, neighborhoods and business areas that are not located on main or collector roads.  

To meet reductions in budget, staff met with Flagstaff Unified School District last year to revisit school bus routes. Between the two agencies, school bus routes were rerouted to mains or collector roads during snow events. This helped both agencies become more efficient during snow events, and it reduced the amount of first priority roads the City was maintaining.

Cindering procedure
Cinders are a traction aide used to keep traffic moving, as opposed to de-icer which is used to break the bond between the snow/ice and the pavement to allow for all of the snow/ice to clear from the roadway. Cinders must be reapplied frequently due to traffic pushing the cinders into the snow/ice, crushing or blowing off the roadway. 

The procedure for cindering is to apply cinders to major hills, signalized intersections, railroad crossings, shaded areas, problem areas and stop signed intersections. We limit the use of cinders in residential areas and flat roads.

Sweeping operation plan  
To increase service levels and expectations, the sweeping operation will need to be modified from its current status. In the past, there were four (4) sweepers operating year round as weather allowed and this has been reduced this to two (2) in 2012. To increase the service level during the winter and spring, we can increase the sweepers to four (4) as needed. During the winter, if we receive a break between storms, four (4) sweepers will be out to help limit the spring cleanup as it will be increased by applying more cinders. Weather permitting four (4) sweepers will be out as soon as possible to complete the spring cleanup. This consists of an initial round to pick up the majority and then a follow up round to remove the rest. This is our current practice, and depending on the season, we may need to run the sweepers two (2) shifts a day. We will then return to two (2) sweepers the balance of the year. This will also be coordinated with code enforcement's "sweep your sidewalk" public outreach program as we do currently. We will see a significant increase in cinders on the sidewalk this year as compared to the past few years.