STURGIS – City of Sturgis Public Works Director Rick Bush said he and his department are monitoring the pending winter storm very closely.
“This storm will enter our area for the most part overnight and when residents wake up, conditions are expected to have deteriorated greatly.
Our crews will be on standby and our priority and focus for the first 24 to 48 hours of the storm event will be to keep the emergency and priority routes open for emergency services to be able to maneuver around town should the need arise.”
Bush said once the storm subsides, crews will begin their normal city-wide snow removal operations.
Because there is a high likelihood of significant snow accumulation and drifting with this storm, Bush is asking residents to have all vehicles, trailers and other obstructions removed from the roadway in order to increase his department’s ability to get the roads plowed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“When vehicles become stuck in the roadway, it is difficult, or in some instances makes it impossible, for us to get to a neighborhood to plow,” he said.
The Streets Division is equipped with five plow/sanding units. These units include two ¾-ton pickups and two maintainers and a plow. Additionally, the city has four motor graders, one wheel loader with snow blower, one Osh-Kosh Snow Blower and one liquid de-icer truck.
The maintainers and motor graders are primarily responsible for keeping arterial roads open for traffic flow. Each unit is assigned a specific route to take care of during a snow event. After the snow has stopped, these units may be teamed up to clean and widen arterial roads.
The complete Snow & Ice Control Plan for the city of Sturgis can be can be found on the city website.
