The snow removal process in Alpena is not an easy or fast process and the city wants residents to know more about the procedures and why it takes some time to get the roads clear.

In a press release the city said road crews maintain 180 lane miles of streets, seven miles of alley and 27 parking lots after a snow event. It also must remove snow from the bi-path and sidewalks next to city owned property. It does so with only 14 employees at DPW, eight plow trucks, four pick-ups with plows and a broom truck with a snowblowing unit on it. According to the city state highways and major streets are always the first priority and then side streets. It is always the city’s goal to have all of the streets maintained within 12 hours of a storm ending.

Local side streets are typically not salted unless it is from a specific weather condition, such as ice storms.

As people know when plow trucks remove snow it often fills in the end of people’s driveways with it. The press release says that is an unfortunate occurrence from the task of plowing and that drivers aren’t doing it intentionally.

For more information about the city’s snow and ice removal operations visit the city’s website at alpena.mi.us.