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A. General Discussion - Areas of Responsibility
The Street Maintenance Division is under the direction of Deputy Director Operations, Nathan Loper and Street Foremen, Carl Schultz and Erick Cardew. The Operations Division has adopted a pro-active approach to street maintenance. By focusing on prevention, we believe we can economically prolong useful pavement life.
B. Street Maintenance
An effective street maintenance program is essential to achieve the expected life span from our street network. Proper maintenance, although not inexpensive, is always more cost effective than pavement replacement. Street maintenance efforts fall into several general categories:
Temporary Patching
Crack Sealing
Concrete Permanent Repair
Asphalt Reconstruction (Overlays and Maintenance Mats)
These functions are discussed in the following paragraphs.
Temporary Patching:
Most of this work is done using asphalt based cold patching material and is directed toward filling of pot holes, wedging of settled pavement, and other temporary repairs. Most pot hole problems occur in the spring and we assign staff full time to patching them during this time period. While cold patching is only intended for temporary repairs, it is frequently left in place for several years, particularly on streets scheduled for permanent repair within 5 year planning period.
Pot holes and other pavement defects should be reported to the Municipal Service Building (832-5580.)
Crack Sealing:
In northern climates, the freeze and thaw cycle has potentially the greatest impact of any cause toward the deterioration of a street system. Pavement expands and contracts with the temperature changes and water freezing under the pavement causes lifting and other damage. Joint sealing and crack filling is done by city crews to limit the amount of water getting under the pavement and to keep a flexible material between pavement sections. Noncompressible (stones, etc) caught in pavement joints can lead to pavement damage as the pavement expands in hot weather.
Crack sealing is scheduled the first two years following street construction. These pavements will be addressed again the fifth and tenth years.
Permanent Repairs:
The Street Division also performs permanent street repairs using both concrete and/or hot mix asphalt as necessary. Permanent concrete patching is done by city forces and by contract. Each year we have a sizeable contract for utility patch repair. The cost of this program is charged directly to the responsible utility.
The Concrete Pavement Repair Program is where the Street Division repairs and replaces structures, concrete sections and sidewalks as necessary to re-establish rideability and drainage, and extend the life of the pavement.
Asphalt Reconstruction (Overlays and Maintenance Mats):
The Street Division installs a temporary asphalt pavement on all new subdivision streets. This pavement is intended to last about three years until permanent concrete pavement is installed. The cost of this asphalt work is assessed against the developer. For new subdivisions platted after January 1, 2005 the developer is required to escrow funds for concrete paving.
C. Asphalt Rehabilitation Program
The Street Maintenance Division is responsible for a significant annual asphalt rehabilitation program. This work is part of the Department’s long term capital planning and the cost of the work is assessed to abutting property owners. Asphalt rehabilitation is directed at primarily residential streets.
The asphalt rehabilitation program includes asphalt overlays, grind and overlays, partial reconstructs and total reconstructs. The appropriate program is determined based upon the condition of the base, the remaining life of the utilities, the condition of the curb and gutter, and street drainage.
The Street Division also paves roads in new subdivisions, paves City parking lots, trails and works on other miscellaneous asphalt paving jobs.
Questions regarding asphalt rehabilitation should be directed to the Municipal Services Building (832-5580.)
D. Snow and Ice Control
One of the major services provided by the Department of Public Works is that of snow and ice control. The Department subscribes to two specialized weather services to help us judge how best to respond to an event. Minor events are generally managed with salt and a minimum crew size. Larger events require a full “salting” crew and significant accumulations require bringing in a full plowing crew. Attacking a storm properly minimizes the hazard to residents and the overall cost to the City. Questions on snow removal should be directed to the Municipal Service Building (832-5580.)
Policy areas frequently generate questions or comment. These are:
Crosswalk Shoveling
Sidewalk Shoveling
Snow Removal from street
Curb and Terrace Restoration
Mailbox Damage
Current policy for each of these items is discussed in the following paragraphs.
Crosswalk Shoveling:
Under current policy, the Department is responsible for shoveling snow only from the priority list of crosswalks. This work is currently contracted out at a cost of approximately $20,000 per year. The vast majority of corner properties shovel their own crosswalks. If they didn’t, we would greatly exceed budget. Shoveling generally requires several days after a snow event to complete. Because of potential liability, crosswalks are sometimes shoveled even when it appears that changing weather will take care of the problem.
Sidewalk Shoveling:
Property owners are required to remove snow and ice from the entire width of the sidewalks within 36 hours of the end of the storm. If walks are not cleared and the Department is notified (we do not actively seek violations) the City's contractor will remove the snow. The contractor hired to perform this service takes "before" and "after" pictures of the site. The cost of clearing the sidewalk is currently $75 plus $0.40 per foot after the first 100 feet and is billed to the property owner.
Snow Removal from street:
Most of our major snow control efforts are made at night to avoid interference from traffic and parked vehicles. The Department operates on a premise of maintaining safe driving conditions on residential streets and bare pavement on arterial streets. This maintains public safety and avoids buildup and “washboarding” on the public streets. Curb to curb control also maintains adequate traffic lanes.
Curb and Terrace Restoration:
Every winter the Department unavoidably does some damage to curbs and terrace areas through our snow plowing efforts. Each spring, the Department repairs curb sections, top soils and seeds damaged terrace areas at no charge to residents. Calls regarding curb or terrace damage should be directed to the Municipal Service Building (832-5580.)
Mailbox Damage:
If a properly installed mailbox is damaged by a snowplow, the property owner should call the Municipal Service Building at 832-5580. Upon verification of the claim, the cost of replacement will be reimbursed up to $ 75.00 after processing and sent via the mail.
The Department of Public Works will not make this payment for mailboxes which
are damaged due to the force of the snow. Only in the event that the mailbox is properly installed and our equipment actually strikes a mailbox causing damage, will payment be made.
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