Colorado Springs, El Paso County use different strategies for Tuesday weather

The season’s first widespread cold weather for southern Colorado with some snow in the Colorado Springs area led to two different response strategies for street and road crews Tuesday.

The Colorado Springs Streets Division called out all 45 vehicles at 3:30 p.m. Monday when the storm arrived and temperatures plummeted as much as 40 degrees.

However, the El Paso County Department of Transportation called out 13 vehicles at 4 a.m. Tuesday.

David Scalfri, operations manager for the Streets Division, said although little snow fell, the city wanted all crews ready in case the weather became worse than expected.

Steve Barden, the county’s highway superintendent, said there was no need for a full call-out Monday or Tuesday, but that he expected one early Tuesday morning when more snow is expected.

“This is a holiday and normally we’re off, but we had (crews) taking care of school zones, the main (routes), etc.,” he said. “We didn’t touch any residential areas today.”

Barden said several crews are on standby until 2 a.m. Wednesday, and a dispatcher will call them in if necessary.

Barden and Scalfri said the recent warm weather kept the pavements warm but not enough to completely offset the cold weather.

“At first, (recent warmth) could have been seen as a help, but it actually turned into a hindrance,” Scalfri said. “The snow hit, melted and then flash-froze.”

Scalfri said there will be exceptions this year to the city’s policy of plowing residential streets only when they accumulate more than six inches of snow.

“We have hot spots (such as) school routes, shaded areas, etc., that we do address,” he said.

Scalfri also said the city won’t pay a private contractor to plow in a neighborhood as it did last year.