Slick roads and snow: How Indy Public Works plans to handle them
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Many drivers’ least favorite thing about the winter is having to deal with slick roads and thick snow.
On Tuesday, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works held a mock snow fight drill to help prepare the Indy Snow Force team for the upcoming winter season.
Public Works says the training is a “critical part” of being prepared for the turbulent weather. Corey Ohlenkamp, a public information officer for Public Works, spoke with News 8 to provide insight on how the department plans to battle the winter’s effect on the city’s roads.
Ohlenkamp says Public Works clears roughly 4,000 miles of thoroughfares, secondary streets, and even American with Disabilities Act-accessible ramps within Marion County. More than 80 snowplows and over 19,000 tons of salt are on hand to make the roads safer, he adds.
Indy Snow Force crews will start to pretreat roads as more winter weather enters the forecast.
When ice and snow do hit, crews will first clear major city routes, those used by emergency services and areas with high volumes of traffic. Those routes include Keystone Avenue, Washington Street, Fall Creek Parkway, and more.
Next, plows clean secondary streets. Public Works classifies secondary streets as roads that connect major streets to residential areas, like Southeastern Avenue, Mitthoeffer Road, and Ditch Road.
Ohlenkamp says that Public Works crews can plow city thoroughfares roughly every three hours during winter storms. They continue the combination of salting and plowing streets until there is exposed pavement.