City of Minot Street crews continue to play catch up following a rash of snowstorms in three weeks that dropped 25 inches of snow on the city.
“Our biggest issues are time, people and equipment” said Minot Public Works Director, Dan Jonasson. “We only have one blower and only so many operators available. Mix that with having to work at night, when traffic is light, we have an uphill battle when clearing snow.”
The city has hired contractors to assist with the snow removing efforts, which includes widening roadways and removing snow from right-of-ways to improve line of sight for motorists. Currently residential streets and main thoroughfares have been the focus but some areas of the city continue to see snow drift onto roadways.
“Cars, cars are a major factor when servicing residential streets.” adds Minot Street Superintendent, Rick Hair. “If there are vehicles parked along the street it makes it very difficult to actually widen the road or remove snow from right-of-ways.”
City ordinance states vehicles may not be parked on city streets for more than 24 hours at a time. If residents rely on street parking they are asked to try to relocate to a different location on the street every day.
