SPOKANE, Wash. —
Tuesday, Mayor Nadine Woodward shared the city’s plan to tackle the upcoming winter season. Mayor Woodward said the city has added more satellites to its snow response system in the hope that plows will respond more quickly.
"Those satellite locations allow our plows not to have to come back to a central place to refill sand and granular de-icer, but to go refill wherever they are," Mayor Woodward said.
Mayor Woodward said winter weather prompts the community to talk more about how the city is clearing off streets.
“Street conditions during the winter are the source of a lot of conversation, so that's why we're trying to evolve our system to have better response," Mayor Woodward said.
But, she said city crews have been prepared and its all about being flexible.
"With the addition of more equipment over the past years, and more staffing, we have been more flexible than possible,” Mayor Woodward said.
Charlie Hanshaw will be hitting the streets this year for his 14th Spokane winter. He said he's been with the city since 2008.
“2008, we had really bad snow," Hanshaw recalled. "My first week, I did almost 40 days straight. 12 hour days. So, I got kind of thrown to the wolves. So, I had to learn pretty quickly how to do it.”
Even with over a decade of experience, there are some neighborhoods in Spokane he said are still a challenge to navigate and clear.
“South Hill and Browne’s Addition,” Hanshaw started. “Browne’s Addition is probably the worst in town. There’s so many cars. Everything’s really tight and there’s nowhere to put the snow.”
According to the city, clearing residential streets is the last priority after arterials, hill routes and streets connecting to schools and hospitals. This can make an already difficult area harder on plows.
“If we have a series of storms, sometimes we may not get out into the residential areas as quickly as people would like,” City Street Director Clint Harris said.
The city has also added an additional snow gate to its fleet, bringing the overall total up to 19.
"Snow gates," Mayor Woodward started. "Extremely popular with our residents and we have added more snow gates to the system. We are now up to 19. Those snow gates allow our teams to do their jobs without putting berms on the driveways of residents."
The city hopes with more snow gates and other equipment on the streets, this year’s snow response will be better for all of Spokane.
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