The City of Lincoln is making preparations for when the snow starts to fly. During a Thursday morning news conference with Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird, LTU Director Liz Elliott says they have added 20 super combo trucks over the past three years to replace the oldest vehicles in their fleet.
“The trucks are equipped to complete multiple tasks, spraying anti-icing material, spreading granular salt pre-wet with brine, and plowing.,” Elliott says. “The multi-use trucks reduce the need to return to base to re-equip, allowing crews to stay on the streets clearing snow and ice.”
The City fleet includes a total of 60 plows, and LTU may use as many as an additional 100 contractor plows for arterial and residential routes, depending on storm severity. “Elliott says they have 8,000 tons of road salt available, and the brine storage facility is full. LTU brews its own brine before winter storms, she said, saving the city $100,000 to $300,000 annually.
“This technology allows LTU to vary the combination of brine ingredients to match the severity of each unique storm.” The mixture is applied to streets prior to winter storms to help prevent the buildup of snow and ice.
The City offers a variety of customer service and education tools. Click here for more details. Gaylor Baird is also inviting residents to participate in the third and final Name That Snowplow contest at lincoln.ne.gov/snow. Participants may submit snowplow names through November 5 and vote for the top 25 favorites in December.
The winning names will appear on eight City snowplows.