With all the snow we’ve gotten this year, a curious question arises…
Where do they put all the snow after plowing and clearing the streets in Fergus Falls?
After reaching out to the City of Fergus Falls, the answer may surprise you.
Maintaining city streets during winter storm conditions is the responsibility of the streets department along with other divisions within the Department of Public Works.
The City of Fergus Falls is responsible for maintenance of over 120 miles of roadway, several bridges and several miles of sidewalk / path and drainage ditches.
The snow removal operations begin for the streets when there is an accumulation of 3 inches of snow or more.
Guy Taylor, the City of Fergus Falls, Public Works Director responded saying,
“We have three different sites we use and more available if we need”, “One is east of the public workshop on East Washington Ave. by the parks & Rec building”, “One is by the RTC, and the other off Western Avenue and Kennedy”
The goal of the department is to provide safe roadways with the primary emphasis being major arterial streets, major intersections, bridges and primary streets to the hospital and schools.
Having multiple locations to place the snow once collected is only part of the battle when deciding how to remove large quantities of snow.
You might ask yourself, what happens when it begins to melt?
City of Fergus Falls, Public Works Director, Guy Taylor also shared,
“Good drainage and proximity to where it’s taken from are factors when choosing where the snow goes”
A variety of ice and snow control methods are used for maintaining city streets during winter storms events including the use of snow plows, motor graders and sanders.
Providing the public with the safest roads possible while using available products and equipment in the most efficient and responsible manner is the goal of the Public Works Department.