Snow Removal & Ice Control

Winter Storm Response Plan

The City of Pittsburg Street Division is devoted to keeping our streets as safe as possible, within a constrained budget.  During winter months, snow removal and ice control are primary concerns.

The City developed a Winter Storm Response Plan that clearly defines policies and procedures to keep streets safe and accessible for public transportation and emergency vehicles during periods of snow and ice.  This Plan was developed to help minimize hazardous road conditions in Pittsburg during and after winter storms.

Snow Removal from the Streets

There is approximately 141 miles of paved streets within the City limits.  This equates to approximately 320 lane miles of streets.  It takes a minimum of two passes to effectively clear and treat a lane mile.

Prior to a major snow or freezing rain event, the City will pretreat all major arterial streets, bridges and overpasses with a dry mixture of salt and sand.  Other priority locations include streets near schools and hospitals, and those routes that also provide access to grocery stores, retail shopping, fuel stations, and restaurants.

When the Winter Storm Response Plan is activated, these routes will be cleared and treated first.

Priority 1 – principal arterials, which includes clearing access to Via Christi Medical Center, fire stations, Pittsburg State University and the 8 public and parochial school facilities.

Priority 2 – selected minor arterials.  These are heavily traveled (usually four-lane) streets.

Priority 3 – selected collector streets.  These are busy streets that “collect” traffic from neighborhoods and provide access to principal and minor arterials.

Snow will be plowed to the edge of the road with the exception of Broadway Street from Kansas Street north to 11th Street) which will be plowed to the middle of the street to provide for on-street parking.  This snow will be removed once employees are no longer used in responding to winter storms.

During a major snow event, the City of Pittsburg utilizes contract labor to assist in responding to snow and ice removal.

Please Don’t Take It Personally

Clearing and treating of residential streets is hampered by narrow streets, cars parking on the street and numerous driveway openings making the pushing of snow into a driveway opening, or along a car parked on the street often unavoidable as city crews work to keep streets passable.

If the accumulation of snow makes travel along residential streets impassable after clearing and treating the first, second and third priority routes, the Public Utilities Street Maintenance Division will deploy equipment in each of the four quadrants of the City and begin clearing and treating residential streets.

After plowing the snow, the City will re-open any blocked driveways.

Snow Tips

• Wait to shovel snow from the last five feet of your driveway until the roadway is plowed to full width.
• Don’t throw snow from your sidewalk or driveway into the street.
• Put safety first and drive only if necessary.
• Park off the road and in your driveway.  If you must park on the street, park as close to the curb as possible.
• Don’t follow a de-icing spray truck, snowplow or sanding truck too closely.  They may stop suddenly or spray sand, rocks or other material.
• Do not sled on streets or sidewalks.

Kansas Department of Transportation

The Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is responsible for maintaining the U.S. 69 Highway and Bypass.