The Snow Has Arrived

This year the City is prepared for snow and ice as the predictions of a harsh winter come true.

Equipment
The Public Works department now owns a plow and anti-icing system ready to install on an existing Parks dump truck, a plow assembly for an existing four-wheel drive vehicle, a steel plow edge, a larger anti-icer storage tank and added de-icing capability in addition to the three existing sanders.

This equipment allows the City to clear additional streets and provide redundancy when a piece of equipment is down for repair. Improved anti-icing tools prevent snow and ice from bonding to roadways, making plowing easier with less build-up of rutted, uneven ice. It also uses less sand, which accomplishes three goals: reducing costs, increasing safety and minimizing environmental impacts from the sand.

Communications
Communication improvements include adding live traffic cameras and a map detailing plowing priorities to the City’s website, installing permanent signs along major routes to tune to AM 1650 for emergency information, tightening our procedures for responding to inquiries and upgrading web site information to include information links to Metro Transit and Waste Management.

Be Prepared
But with all the City’s preparations, nothing is more important than a prepared community. It is each resident’s responsibility to prepare themselves for emergency situations. Tips are available in this magazine and on www.redmond.gov.

Be a Good Neighbor

• Clear your sidewalk and nearby street drains of leaves and place leaves in yardwaste container
• When snow falls, shovel and de-ice your sidewalk
• Use de-icer from the hardware store, salt or sand
• Clear your waste carts of ice and snow – making pickup quicker and more efficient
• Businesses and building managers should shovel sidewalks and bus stops outside their locations so customers and employees can get around