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“Right now, we’re operating about 40 routes. We’re reviewing that this season to see if we need changes, but that’s where we stand today,” Fred Stovall, Dayton Public Works director, said.
HOW IS SNOW RESPONSE PRIORITIZED?
- Highways, arterials, bridges, RTA routes and streets bordering public schools and hospitals, along with the central business district;
- Hills and collector streets (from neighborhoods to major streets);
- Residential streets when snow totals are 4 inches or more
While most people want their neighborhood to get treated first when snow sticks to the streets, the city said that’s not realistic. In fact, road crews won’t hit neighborhoods this weekend.
There’s a clear pecking order of places crews work to clear first.
“The highways, the arterials, you know the main roads, the hills and bridges,” Stovall said.
Main roads that carry large amounts of traffic, like Wayne Avenue, are always priority.
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Crews already pre-treated roads like this, including Salem Avenue, Smithville Road and Third Street in anticipation of the season’s first snow.
There also is a second tier of road priorities, which are collector streets that carry lots of drivers from their neighborhood to the main roads. But don’t expect to see crews in the neighborhoods, at least not this time, because of a change in city policy made several years ago.
“We only clear those roads if we get a snowstorm that is 4 inches of snow or more,” Stovall said.
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Good news for this season is that there is no shortage of salt.
The city used about 300 tons each the last two years and there is a stockpile of 1,400 tons of salt right now.
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