Downtown Snow Removal | Video

Jessica Roose | 11/14/2012

Last weekend`s storm has kept Bismarck snowplow operators busy. Now that the roads have been cleared, the street department has begun the snow removal process downtown. As of Monday roads throughout Bismarck have been cleared of snow and now all that remains are piles of it pushed to the side.

"We`re working in the downtown area now to get that snow cleared out and there will also be other arterials where we`ve got sidewalks up against the main road and we have to pull the snow off and haul that out. So we`ll be working on that like I say throughout the week, in the evenings," said Director of Service Operations Jeff Heintz.

Erik Hagen works downtown and says getting around after the storm has been difficult.

"It felt like the road conditions were maybe even worse than it was when it was snowing. Most of the snow that`s off the road now is because it melted."

But it could have been worse. Heintz says they started treating the roads Thursday, days before the storm hit Bismarck. By first applying an anti-icing material that kept it from bonding to the pavement.

"Friday we were doing some salting because we had the rain coming and it was starting to freeze. So we were salting the roads to keep the freezing point lower so they didn`t freeze. From what I`m told, throughout Friday night it worked quite well and into Saturday the roads were staying wet. They`re wet but they`re not frozen."

He added that during a winter storm the first priority is always to get the emergency routes plowed, then they will move on to clearing major streets and residential areas.

Heintz says crews plan to have snow removed from the downtown area by Saturday. Cars should be moved off the streets at night to help with the removal process.

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