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Hauling snow
When it comes to snow removal, there are some instances when the snow must be hauled away.
Typically, snow is plowed to the side of the road. Since many downtown buildings are close to the curb and the abutting properties have nowhere to go with the snow (such as blowing into a front yard), downtowns are one of the areas where many Nebraska communities haul snow away.
Why is downtown different than other businesses?
Downtown businesses use public parking on the street or public parking lots. A business along Burlington Avenue has its own parking lot and shouldn’t push snow to the street. They should pile it in their own parking lot.
Hauling snow from major streets
Major streets in commercial areas are also one of the areas where snow sometimes needs to be hauled away. Sometimes the windrow of snow gets too big that we cannot push more snow to the side if it snows again. In addition, sometimes the windrow of snow causes sight distance problems. In some places, like the Burlington Avenue overpass, melting of that windrow of snow can make for a very slick bridge. We frequently haul snow away from Burlington Avenue.
The City will be hauling away the significant windrow of snow that was plowed to the center of 33rd Street west of U.S. Highway 34/281.
Starting around 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17, snow will be hauled off the right lanes of the Burlington Avenue bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad. While doing the work, the right lane will be closed and occupied by a train of snow removal equipment including motor graders, loaders, loader with a snow blower, dump trucks, and other equipment. The left lane will be closed while a truck is being loaded with snow being picked up by the snow blower (sometimes we call it the “heaver”) and blown into the dump truck to haul away. While a truck is being loaded with snow, both lanes of Burlington Avenue in the direction being worked will be stopped (if we are working in the northbound lane, only the northbound lane will be impacted and the same while working on the southbound lane). We’ll watch traffic and continue with loading of a second truck if the backup of traffic is reasonable. If the backup gets to be significant, we’ll turn traffic loose to safely and slowly pass the snow removal train using the left lane. Then we’ll return to shutting down the left lane down again to load another truck (or round of trucks if the traffic backup is reasonable).
Snow dump sites include D Street and Pine Avenue, 14th Street and Eastside Boulevard and at 18th Street and Baltimore Avenue.
Salt/sanding operation
The City of Hastings had three trucks continuing to spread the salt/sand mixture through the weekend and two trucks on Tuesday Jan. 16. We are seeing some melting being assisted by the existing salt/sand, newly applied salt/sand, sunshine and heat from vehicle tires. A lot of melting is expected Wednesday, Jan. 17.
Published Date: 01/16/2024