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Let it snow
  
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By Rhonda Moore
With a new snow removal policy designed to prevent a repeat of the fallout from the 2006-07 record storms, Castle Rock was prepared when the first major snow of the season began to fall.
Crews were out early in the evening of Dec. 8 in advance of the anticipated snowfall and remained at work until the roads were clear around 10 a.m. the following morning, said Dave Frost, Castle Rock street superintendent.
Working with a six-man crew from 8 p.m. Dec. 8 to 4 a.m. the next morning, a full crew was in place by 8 a.m. Dec. 9, first tackling the main arterial roads. With the help of 10 trained volunteers culled from the town’s utilities, parks and engineering departments, snow removal on residential streets began shortly after midnight, Frost said.
The volunteers are part of the town’s efforts to begin snow removal early to keep residential areas clear while at the same time saving money with no new hires.
“We’ve got a great team with the town,” Frost said. “I’m just tickled to death, the guys are doing great.”
The town revised its snow removal policy this year, lowering the threshold for response in snow storms. Last year, following record storms from the year before, the town approved a policy to send out crews in the event of any snowfall.
Calling such a response “overkill,” the public works department revised its policy to send crews out only in storms where more than 4 inches of snow is expected.
Snowfall Dec. 9 measured between four to eight inches in most areas around Castle Rock, Frost said. Crews found the deepest snowfall in areas south of town, he said.
The Crystal Valley subdivision saw as many as 10 inches of snow, calling for extra crews in the neighborhood, Frost said.
Douglas County crews agreed that the southern portions of the county saw the heaviest snowfall, as forecasted, said Denny Gibson, Douglas County director of operations public works.
Douglas County is responsible for 2,400 lane miles of road in unincorporated areas of the county, including the more high density regions of the county, which Dec. 8 saw the first county crews out overnight.
Focusing on major arterials along the northern corridor of the county, snow removal began by 4 p.m. and continued into the following day.
The heaviest snowfall was at the foothills near Perry Park, where snow measured as deep as 11 inches in some areas, and near the mountainous terrain along the South Platte River, Gibson said.
Gibson found the county’s biggest challenge on County Line Road south of Castle Rock, where crews plowed in the early morning hours.
“Even though we plowed at 5 a.m., by 7:30 it was like we didn’t plow it at all,” Gibson said. “It was due to wind and drifting, it just covered the road. [At 11 a.m. Dec. 9] we still have people out there and they’ll be there until we’re satisfied and we can leave it awhile.”
For more information about snow removal in Douglas County, visit the county’s Web site at www.douglas.co.us/publicworks/operations. For more information about snow removal in Castle Rock, visit the town’s Web site at www.crgov.com.
Crews were out early in the evening of Dec. 8 in advance of the anticipated snowfall and remained at work until the roads were clear around 10 a.m. the following morning, said Dave Frost, Castle Rock street superintendent.
Working with a six-man crew from 8 p.m. Dec. 8 to 4 a.m. the next morning, a full crew was in place by 8 a.m. Dec. 9, first tackling the main arterial roads. With the help of 10 trained volunteers culled from the town’s utilities, parks and engineering departments, snow removal on residential streets began shortly after midnight, Frost said.
The volunteers are part of the town’s efforts to begin snow removal early to keep residential areas clear while at the same time saving money with no new hires.
“We’ve got a great team with the town,” Frost said. “I’m just tickled to death, the guys are doing great.”
The town revised its snow removal policy this year, lowering the threshold for response in snow storms. Last year, following record storms from the year before, the town approved a policy to send out crews in the event of any snowfall.
Calling such a response “overkill,” the public works department revised its policy to send crews out only in storms where more than 4 inches of snow is expected.
Snowfall Dec. 9 measured between four to eight inches in most areas around Castle Rock, Frost said. Crews found the deepest snowfall in areas south of town, he said.
The Crystal Valley subdivision saw as many as 10 inches of snow, calling for extra crews in the neighborhood, Frost said.
Douglas County crews agreed that the southern portions of the county saw the heaviest snowfall, as forecasted, said Denny Gibson, Douglas County director of operations public works.
Douglas County is responsible for 2,400 lane miles of road in unincorporated areas of the county, including the more high density regions of the county, which Dec. 8 saw the first county crews out overnight.
Focusing on major arterials along the northern corridor of the county, snow removal began by 4 p.m. and continued into the following day.
The heaviest snowfall was at the foothills near Perry Park, where snow measured as deep as 11 inches in some areas, and near the mountainous terrain along the South Platte River, Gibson said.
Gibson found the county’s biggest challenge on County Line Road south of Castle Rock, where crews plowed in the early morning hours.
“Even though we plowed at 5 a.m., by 7:30 it was like we didn’t plow it at all,” Gibson said. “It was due to wind and drifting, it just covered the road. [At 11 a.m. Dec. 9] we still have people out there and they’ll be there until we’re satisfied and we can leave it awhile.”
For more information about snow removal in Douglas County, visit the county’s Web site at www.douglas.co.us/publicworks/operations. For more information about snow removal in Castle Rock, visit the town’s Web site at www.crgov.com.
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