Plowing Routes & Time Frames
Main Street (US 135), Tomichi Avenue (US 50), and Emergency Routes will be plowed first. In the downtown area, snow is plowed during the night (generally beginning about midnight) with snow being pushed to the middle of the streets by graders. Loaders or snow blowers scoop the ice and snow and place it in trucks to be hauled to a designated dump site.
School bus routes are considered a first priority and should be plowed by 7:00 AM when possible.
Remaining Priority: Main Arterials and Collectors (including other RTA bus stops), Residential Streets, then Trails. Alleys will be plowed concurrently with other priorities as much as possible.
The removal of windrows will commence as soon as possible after a snow storm has been plowed.
A final cleanup of snow plow operations will be done once windrows are removed. This is done in order to remove snow buildup in curb & gutter sections. Final cleanup will also include plowing where cars have moved.
As needed, throughout the winter Public Works crews will pull ice out of the curbs in the downtown business area and haul off in designated snow storage areas. In addition, ice will be removed from some downtown alleys and hauled off.
Approximate Time Frame to have snow plowed:
| Ice/Freezing Rain – 1-2 inches of snow | 12 hours after storm ends |
| 2-4 Inches of Snow | 12 - 16 hours after storm ends |
| 4-8 Inches of Snow | 28 hours after storm ends |
| 9 to 16 inches of Snow | 40 hours after a storm ends |
| 17 inches or more | 52 hours after a storm ends |
Sequence of Streets/Order of Priority:
- Priority # 1: US Highway 50 (Tomichi Avenue) & US Highway 135 (Main Street)
- Priority # 2: Designated Emergency Routes:
- North Colorado Street to Spencer Avenue
- East Denver Avenue
- East Spencer Avenue
- North Taylor Street
- Priority # 3: School Bus Routes (not shown above)
- 11th Street (Tomichi to Spencer)
- Denver Avenue (11th to Colorado)
- Boulevard Street (Denver to Spencer)
- Spencer Avenue (11th to Colorado)
- Priority # 4: Main Arterials and Collectors (not shown above and including other RTA Routes)
- 11th from Rio Grande to Tomichi
- 8th Street from New York to Denver
- Adams Street from Tomichi to Georgia
- Colorado Street from San Juan to Tomichi
- Denver Ave. from Colorado to Reed Street
- Georgia from Colorado to Escalante
- Gunnison Ave from 3rd to 5th Street
- South Main Street
- New York Ave. from 5th to Teller
- Ohio from Colorado to pavement change
- Rio Grande Hwy 50 to Wisconsin Street
- Taylor from Denver to Tomichi
- Teller from San Juan to Tomichi
- Virginia from west end to Loveland
- Wisconsin from Tomichi to Denver
- 8th Street from New York to Denver
- 5th Street from Gunnison to New York
- Georgia Ave from Colorado to Escalante Drive
- Priority # 5: Other Residential Streets
- Priority # 6: Trails
Alleys: Alleys are a separate sequence and will be plowed as soon as main intersections are opened for traffic.