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In setting road/street priorities, it helps to
define your roadways with respect to traffic and major routes of
ingress/egress, but you need to consider other factors such as schools and
school bus routes, public transit routes, emergency services, and so on.
Meet with other agencies (school, transit, police, fire, medical, and so on)
to help establish a priority list.
You then move into establishing levels of service,
making sure you can deliver. Levels of service should establish the
maintenance goal after the storm. Since storms come in all magnitudes and
you need time to fight whatever hits, the goal cannot be met during the
storm. Often, the level of service is stated in time after the storm, such
as complete all plowing and spreading of materials within 12 hours after the
storm.
The level of service must be doable and practical.
It has to be based on funding available to support the required resources in
personnel, materials, and equipment. This can have liability implications.
It is much better to promise the minimum and do better most of the time than
to fail on a regular basis.
The optimum level of service is bare pavement
maintenance. This becomes optimum not only for safety but for mobility and
economic stability. Different levels of service, however, may be adopted
for different priority routes. Common levels of service can range from bare
pavement maintenance, to center bare only, to plowing roadways and salting
intersections only. Combinations of operations can be many with many options
in just how you are going to do this and within what time factor.
One of the variables in our operations is materials.
We need to decide what materials may be best to use for the desired level of
service, keeping in mind the required time to accomplish the task. Use your
public works technical personnel to provide information and guidance.
Evaluation of materials as to cost and effectiveness can be time consuming
and complex. Discussions with people experienced in using the various
materials can help.
We also need to address plowing. When do we plow? It
is common to establish a policy based on amount of snow accumulation such as
2 to 3 inches. Along with when is where to plow the snow. In ur-ban areas, a
common policy is to push the snow back to the curb in order to open the
gutter line for good drainage. Pushing the snow back in rural areas also
makes for good drainage, makes roads safer, and gives a place to plow the
snow from the next storm.
Most roads and streets are plowed clear of snow with
the snow remaining in windrows on the roadside. However, in some areas,
large storms and large accumulations may dictate pickup, hauling, and
disposal off-site. Downtown business areas, particularly those with
on-street parking and parking meters, become prime targets for hauling snow
away. However, this remains a costly operation in dollars, time, equipment,
and personnel. You also need an acceptable disposal site that is
environmentally safe.
Parking is another major item in which you need to
establish policy. Is this a permanent parking restriction for street
cleaning or only seasonal? Do you have or need emergency snow routes?
Parking meter areas pose specific problems of where to put the snow, if it
is not going to be picked up and hauled away.
Survival Lesson #3:
Adopt a comprehensive winter operations plan.
The plan is more than just a snow route map; it is a
comprehensive plan covering all aspects of your winter operations. Your
public works personnel should prepare a draft plan in accordance with the
adopted policy statement. The plan should be presented to your local
advisory committee for their review and comments and then finalized
accordingly.
What goes into a plan? Here’s a suggested list of
items that need to be addressed:
As you can see, winter operations are no simple
task. Comprehensive planning and organizing is essential for success. Your
plan needs to fit your agency’s needs, resources, and roadway environment.
Survival Lesson #4:
Adopt sensible salting practices.
Adopting specific practices for plowing and
spreading salt will be a great benefit in a variety of areas. Sensible
salting provides for professional snow fighting and snow fighters. Sensible
salting increases safety, protects the environment, reduces costs, and
reduces liability. Sensible-salting practices should be part of your
comprehensive winter operations plan.
Just what does sensible salting mean? Sensible
salting means that you:
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Know the salt you are using, that you have good
material specifications.
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Know the importance of good storage facilities
and proper storage and handling practices for all materials.
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Know what equipment is needed for deicing, for
prewetting, and for anti-icing and are knowledgeable about proper
application rates depending on storm and road conditions.
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Know about other chemicals and how they can be
used effectively in conjunction with salt.
Survival Lesson #5:
Implement an employee training program.
Everyone needs training. Training means professional
snow fighters! Training is maintaining personnel at an optimum level.
Shouldn’t you be maintaining your personnel the same as you maintain your
vehicles and equipment or your infrastructure? Don’t you have a major
investment in them? Don’t you want them to be as effective and efficient as
possible?
Training is an investment in proper knowledge, cost
reduction, work efficiency, morale boosting, safety, liability reduction,
and your municipality’s future. Training improves your workforce, and you
and your municipality can reap the benefits.
Survival Lesson #6:
Implement an employee safety program.
Remember, the crews are out there because the roads
are unsafe for the traveling public. If there was ever a need for a formal
employee safety program, it is for winter operations. A formal program means
policies and procedures and their enforcement. If enforcement is lacking,
safety will suffer, which means everyone will suffer.
A designated safety committee or a designated safety
person can be a real asset in keeping safety alive. Training is an essential
safety item in all aspects of crew safety with personal protective
equipment, materials handling, vehicles and equipment operations, and total
winter operations.
Use your workman’s compensation insurance car-rier
as a resource for safety training and safety program development.
Survival Lesson #7:
Establish a formal risk-management program.
Whether you have a separate risk-management
department or personnel, risk management should be addressed. We can look at
two areas — risk prevention and risk control.
A good program will start with risk prevention,
identifying potential problem or high risk areas, identifying high-accident
sites through accident investigation, and implementing proper policies and
improvements. The second area is risk control. Purchasing insurance is one
way to control costs, but a good program will go beyond just insurance. A
good program will minimize potential lawsuits through risk identification
and improvements, minimize the number of lawsuits lost through proper
preparation and policy adoption, and minimize the damages of lost lawsuits
by being knowledgeable and prepared through the legal process.
Standards and record keeping are essential to good
risk management and defending your liability in court. Your policy
statement, along with your comprehensive plan, sets the standards for your
operations. Following established policy and plan is essential. In addition,
a record-keeping system should be established by which the agency can
document how well it complied with its level of service and each component
of the comprehensive plan. Document special practices and take photos of
roadway conditions after any accidents.
Survival Lesson #8:
Establish an effective public relations program.
You may want to hire a public/media specialist to
help establish and implement good public and media relations. Many large
urban centers opt for pre-winter proactive news conferences. But even small
local governments can use pre-prepared news releases. These allow you to
highlight any new equipment or procedures adopted for this winter; review
policies, plans, priority routing, and available resources; and solicit the
help of your residents to do their part in winter operations. Use the media;
don’t let the media use you. And don’t forget to use your local advisory
committee to enhance your public relations.
The computer age with all the new technology can
help in several ways regarding public relations. You can establish a Web
site of information for the public which is easily accessible. You can
develop newsletters in-house at less cost with various available software.
Survival Lesson #9:
Evaluate and update your program.
Every good plan needs to be evaluated and updated on
a routine basis. A comprehensive winter operations plan lends itself to
annual review, evaluation, and update.
One of the best methods is to have a post-winter
meeting immediately after the winter and involving all winter personnel.
Don’t wait until fall when things can be forgotten. Spring is when winter
operations are still fresh in everyone’s mind along with all the problems
and concerns. Assign someone to take minutes and make to-do lists. You can
discuss route problems, review winter accident data, discuss material and
equipment problems, discuss personnel problems, cover operations
effectiveness, and talk about media and public relations. All of these items
need to be discussed and problems and concerns need to be recorded, along
with suggested remedies and solutions.
Survival Lesson #10:
Lead the team and get involved!
You have to lead the team. You have to ensure that
interdepartmental cooperation takes place. Many individuals in a variety of
departments are involved in some aspect of winter operations. The
municipality will accomplish the task only if everyone works together as a
team.
Public works takes the lead in providing actual
services to make the roads safe. Police cooperation with enforcement of
public policies is crucial along with providing emergency response. Risk
management, purchasing, public relations, and human relations all need to
get involved in a cooperative effort for efficient, effective, and safe
winter operations.
As the public official in charge, you already know
how to get involved. Do just that in your winter operations. Talk to your
snow fighters, ride a plow truck during a winter storm. It will give you a
brand new perspective on snow-fighting operations and a better appreciation
of the work that needs to be done.
As you can see, an effective winter maintenance
program is more than just sending out plow trucks. It involves thinking
ahead and developing a specific plan of operations. It requires teamwork and
cooperation and commitment and leadership from top management, that’s you.
Remember, set the policies to fit your community
needs. A one-size-fits-all concept does not necessarily result in success.
What works in one agency may not be compatible in yours, so design your
program to fit your roadways and resources.
An ancient proverb states, “A journey of a thousand
miles begins with but a single step.” Hopefully, this information will help
you in taking that first step in your journey to develop an effective winter
operations program and help you, as a public official, meet your
responsibilities. |
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