The beautiful weather we have enjoyed in recent days is about to come to an end. Lincoln could see a combination of sleet and snow on Saturday as the Huskers host Purdue at Memorial Stadium. On Tuesday Lincoln Transportation and Utilities outlined their plan to keep drivers safe and traffic moving this winter.
“The City’s commitment to providing safe and accessible transportation, whether for work, school, medical appointments, or grocery shopping, is unwavering,” Director Liz Elliott says. She says last year they replaced 12 older snow plows with multi-use trucks to increase the efficiency of their winter operations. The super combo trucks are equipped to spray anti-icing material, spread granular salt pre-wet with brine, and plow snow from Lincoln’s streets.
“This effort paid off last winter by nearly doubling our capacity to apply brine and salt to arterial streets faster and more efficiently.” The City has 89,000 tons of granular salt available for pavement clearing. Elliott said the City’s custom brine-making and -filling equipment is also a key component of Lincoln’s winter preparedness by helping prevent the bonding of snow and ice to the streets. The brine program saves the city between $100,000 to $300,000 annually depending on the severity of the winter season.
This will be they will use two truck fill stations. The stations have the capability to quickly change the makeup of the brine to match the severity of each unique storm and the different locations cut down on traveling time to refill the trucks.
LTU has a variety of customer service and education tools available at lincoln.ne.gov/snow to help residents monitor street conditions during active storms. That includes watching the City’s plowing progress in real-time on the Snowplow Tracker map.
Elliott says they are also inviting residents to participate in the first ever Name That Snowplow contest at lincoln.ne.gov/NameThatSnowplow.
(Photo: City of Lincoln )