Keeping An Eye On City Plow Command Center
COLORADO SPRINGS – One of the busiest places during this snowstorm is inside with plows working around the clock. City street crews keep an eye on their progress.
57 plows are out around the clock for the spring snowstorm. Inside, you can see where all of them are working and keep an eye out for trouble spots.
“This is one of the iciest ones I’ve seen in a while,” says Bard Lower, a supervisor at the Colorado Springs Streets Division. Drivers have been out battling the weather since the storm moved in Thursday.
Overnight and into Friday, plows are facing some big challenges. “The snow has been blowing all night over the roads and that creates a serious ice problem,” Lower says. So the city has to keep its plows moving.
A map inside the command center map shows where the plows are and where they’re going. Red lines are primary roads, where plows focus first. “If it continues to snow and blow, we have to go back and do our primaries again,” Lower says, “so it’s a very slow process.”
Sensors constantly update, giving crews new information on conditions throughout the city. Trucks are putting out anti-skid mix, but because the surface temperatures on the road are so low and strong winds haven’t let up, the anti-skid hasn’t been as effective.
“We’re doing the best we absolutely can,” Lower says, “but everyone needs to be extremely careful.” You should not call the streets division to plow your neighborhood. You’ll get an automated response, letting you know that once primary and secondary roads are clear, they can then move to residential streets.
