As Sunday night’s snowstorm swept over Marshfield, the Street Department was out early to tackle roads.
“Staff usually sees these events coming ahead and starts putting together a plan of what we’re going to do,” said Dean Schiller, Street Superintendent. “We look at what time we’re going to start putting our resources, employees out there to plow roads and then kind of map out so we don’t stretch ourselves too thin.”
Several employees were already in by 1:30 a.m. on Monday and more at 4:30 a.m. to plow the city streets. That afternoon, staff continued addressing priority roads and will return at midnight to clean up downtown areas and residential subdivisions where drifting occurred.
By City ordinance, overnight parking is restricted between the hours of 2:30-6:00 a.m. on city streets and certain parking lots, through April.
“We’ll be able to get most of our work done during this period,” noted Schiller.
Residents might notice yellow boxes stationed at certain intersections. Anyone who notices a slippery sidewalk at that intersection can spread sand around to prevent slips and falls.
The Street Department will continue observing freezing temperatures and salt roads in the afternoon to loosen up packed snow.
Drivers navigating difficult road conditions made for an eventful day at the Marshfield Police Department, which received three calls for accidents within fifteen minutes early Monday afternoon.
“The Street Department did a great job cleaning everything up this morning,” said Lt. Esser, “But the wind’s still blowing out there, snow still drifting in, causing some issues, so we have a number of crashes taking place still.”
The minor crashes have not resulted in any injuries. In consideration of the bitter temperatures, Lt. Esser recommends packing extra items for safety such as clothing, a blanket, shovel, charged cell phone, and hand warmers, and also letting others know of your whereabouts.
