Public Works Preps for Next Storm
More than Two Dozen New Snow Gates Added
SPOKANE COUNTY, December 7, 2022 – Spokane County Commissioner Al French joined Public Works Senior Director Kyle Twohig today to highlight the county’s snow removal procedures – and more importantly, to focus on 26 new snow gates that have been installed on graders. Commissioner French said that used snow gates can cost $10-12 thousand each. Installing them on a grader can also require hours of additional work. But all that has changed thanks to a team of county employees. “The employees in the Central Shop took on the task of designing and building more than two dozen new snow gates that are customized for our equipment and much more efficient to install. Each of the new gates cost less than half of the retail cost to build. As a result of their above-and-beyond efforts, these employees have saved county taxpayers approximately $200,000. Now, that’s impressive!” French said.
Public Works Senior Director Kyle Twohig also highlighted that while the road crews have finished an all-county plow, they are also prepping to another storm system that is expected by tonight. With up to three-inches of fresh snow possible, crews have been keeping the Priority One routes (emergency routes and main arterials) clear and applying liquid deicer throughout the county. “We have the largest county road system in the State of Washington of more than 5,100 lane miles and our crews will be working long hours to keep our roads safe. Please remind motorists to drive for the conditions and not the speed limit, stay 50-feet behind snow removal equipment, and never try to pass on the right side of a plow or grader,” Twohig said.
For more information, including maps of the Priority Routes and Snowplow Activity go to www.spokanecounty.org/publicworks.
Photo caption: Commissioner Al French is joined by County Engineer Matt Zarecore and Public Works Senior Director Kyle Twohig as they admire one of the employee-designed and fabricated snow gates.
The mission of Spokane County Public Works is to provide our citizens and the traveling public with safe and maintained roads, bridges and stormwater facilities through efficient and quality Operations, Construction, Engineering and Planning services.
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