Last week's snow caused the usual snow clearing problems. It seems that the first heavy snow of the season comes as a surprise and is totally unexpected - this happens every year, of course. Mostly, however, I think Uppsala's snow clearing has been well planned and executed in the past, although I noted with consternation that the glacial roads in my neighboor were inadequately sanded this time despite treacherous walking conditions. The municipality has a snow clearing contract with a private company, Asfab, which does no more and no less than the contract stipulates.
Snow clearing is according to priority: clearing within 4 hours on main roads, bus routes, main bicycle paths, main walkways, schools, steps and squares; clearing within 6-8 hours according to subcategories of lower priority roads, bike paths and walkways. There is a similar prioritizing for slipperiness sanding (sorry for not taking the time to find better English words). Salt is used only for emergencies since it's an environmental contaminant.
In addition, there are a number of places around town for homeowners to pick up sand for free - limit: 100 buckets per homeowner. I have some empty paint buckts that I plan on filling with sand. A bit late, I guess. My driveway is semi-glacial already. But, honestly, I had no idea it was going to snow and then rain on top of it! Really, this was so unexpected!
visual effects workers vote to unionize
7 months ago
1 comment:
In the Northeast US roads are salted. Salt is cheap and works well until you get to about -10C, but is extremely destructive to anything that grows near a road as well as to cars. Safer methods exist and are usually cheaper if damage is included, but the budget for snow removal is usually in an agency that doesn't have to worry about the other issues.
Post a Comment