With the City of Jefferson seeing almost a foot of snow this past weekend, the streets department was out in full force on Monday and Tuesday clearing the roads.

Street Superintendent Dave Teeples says four snow plows go out when there’s at least two-inches of snow on the ground.  Each truck has its own route.  One is used for the uptown area, one is for all the west and east streets, one is for all the north and south streets and one is for all the frontage and outlying parts of Jefferson.  During a long-lasting snow event, the priority list is clearing the main roads along with all the frontage and factory roads.

The snow is pushed from the curb to the center of the street.  Each snow plow applies a sand and salt mixture that is purchased from the Greene County Secondary Roads Department.  Then usually the next day, crews will blow the excess snow from the middle of the road into a dump truck to be hauled away.

Teeples points out some challenges that can come up with every snow occurrence.

“Equipment failure is a big one.  We lose a snow plow or a loader that really slows things down for us.  We usually lose the man also and then we have to pick up where he left off and that kind of slows us down.”

Another challenge is on the downtown square.  After business owners move the snow from their sidewalks to the curb, the street department will try to go back and push the snow away from the curb, but Teeples adds that it can be challenging when vehicles are parked around the square.

After each snow route is done, the plows are sprayed with a salt neutralizer and each truck is emptied so that the sand and salt mixture doesn’t eat through the metal.

Teeples would like to remind everyone to remove their vehicles from the street when the City’s snow ordinance is in effect so their crews have an easier time clearing the streets of snow.