Here’s the plan for snow removal in Idaho Falls this week
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IDAHO FALLS — The city of Idaho Falls issued a snow removal proclamation late Saturday, Jan. 16. Crews began plowing early Sunday morning and are now working to clear all residential roads.
EastIdahoNews.com reporter Nate Eaton spoke with Idaho Falls Street Superintendent Paul Hathaway on what the snow proclamation means and when folks can expect to have their streets plowed.
Nate Eaton, EastIdahoNews.com: A proclamation was issued Saturday for snow removal. What exactly does that mean?
Paul Hathaway, Idaho Falls Street Superintendent: It means we will start plowing residential neighborhoods citywide. If we can get the cars to move and have people check where they can and can’t park so we can get everything plowed this week as quickly and efficiently as possible – that will help out a lot.
Eaton: Where do you stand Monday as far as plowing, and getting all the roads clear?
Hathaway: Last night we started on ‘B’ areas. Today we’re going to start on the ‘A’ areas and hopefully we’ll have that finished up tomorrow afternoon. Then we’ll continue on to the ‘B’ areas. Hopefully we’ll have everything competed in residential areas in about 2-3 days.
CLICK HERE FOR AN INTERACTIVE SNOW REMOVAL MAP
Eaton: What does it take for the city to actually issue this proclamation? To get a full force of crews out plowing the streets?
Hathaway: The Mayor and City Council will call us and tell us to get everything going. Once we receive that from them, we hit it pretty hard.
Eaton: Do you have to bring in a bunch of contractors?
Hathaway: We do. For residential areas, we’ll call in as many contractors as we need. Usually we’ll run anywhere from 15 road graders to 30-40 backhoes and a couple loaders. When we do the main streets, my department will run that and we’ll run my crews and also run contractors on that too. We go 24-7 and then we’re done.
Eaton: What do you say to people who complain that Idaho Falls never plows the roads. Do you hear that?
Hathaway: We do. We just ask them to be patient with us. We try our best and when we are told to go out and plow, we hit it pretty fast and we won’t stop until we’re done.
Stay with EastIdahoNews.com for updates on snow removal and when the snow proclamation will be lifted.