Citywide plowing ended around midnight and cleanup will continue through the week. Roadway users should still expect to encounter slippery spots while traveling through the city, so remember to make good choices.
On Saturday, the citywide plowing operations by Streets, our partner agencies, and heavy equipment contractors wrapped up plowing operations at approximately midnight. As a reminder, plowing operations began at 2:00pm on Saturday shortly after the storm ended. This initial phase of cleaning up from the snow storm was completed around 10 hours later.
Once the plowing was completed around midnight, crews switched to applying sand on the hills, curves, and intersections around Madison to provide traction on these areas. On top of spreading sand, these crews began the long process of pushing snow from the road to the curb in areas that were blocked by parked cars or other obstructions during the initial plowing phase. Sunday’s post-storm sanding operations is expected to conclude in the afternoon, depending on conditions.
Everyone who parks on the street in the week ahead, especially in the downtown area, are encouraged to follow the posted parking signs. Streets Division plow trucks will be using these times where parking is prohibited in order to plow the snow back to the curb in those spots that was blocked by cars during Saturday’s plowing operations. This is an important winter maintenance step in order to keep streets wide and safe throughout the winter.
Monday morning commuters should expect the typical post-storm winter driving conditions with the potential for slippery patches, particularly in residential areas. Since these neighborhood streets are not salted, many of them will have a hard packed layer of snow left on them following the plowing operations on Saturday. This is a normal. The blades of plow trucks slide over the surface of the roads and cannot press down in order to peel up that final layer.
Remember to plan for extra time to get to your destinations to anticipate potentially slick or icy areas, and be slow, patient, and alert when driving or biking.
Streets Division staff will continue monitoring the roads and the weather. Future updates will be provided as conditions require.
