Mayor Coleman, Councilmember Paley Inspect Snow Warriors and Open Traffic Management Center
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
October 17, 2013
For
More Information:
John Ivanic, (614) 645-6798
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Mayor Coleman and Councilmember Paley Inspect Snow
Warriors and Open the City’s New Traffic Management Center/Snow Operations Command
Center
Mayor Michael B. Coleman and
Councilmember Eileen Y. Paley today marked the opening of the City’s new
Traffic Management Center (TMC) with their annual inspection of the City’s Snow
Warriors. The new Traffic Management Center will also serve as the City’s
Snow Operations Command Center in the hours before, during and following
snowfalls.
“Our Snow Warriors are the
best in the nation and our new Traffic Management Center will help them do an
even better job when the snow falls,” Mayor Coleman said. “The new TMC
will also help reduce traffic congestion and make our streets safer
year-round.”
During and after snowfalls,
operations staff in the TMC will monitor weather conditions and track City of
Columbus snow plow trucks. The trucks are equipped with Warrior Watch, an
upgraded GPS system that replaces the former COMBAT GPS system used 2009
through 2012. TMC staff will use the new facility’s state-of-the-art
equipment year-round to monitor traffic flow, including City and Ohio
Department of Transportation traffic cameras, and adjust the timing of traffic
lights to reduce traffic backups at intersections.
“The City of Columbus has
invested in the personnel and technology that will work together to help keep drivers and pedestrians safe this winter,”
said Councilmember Paley, chair of the Public Service and Transportation
Committee. “I am confident the Snow Warriors team will be ready when we
need them.”
Construction of the new $3.4
million Traffic Management Center was funded through lower capital improvement
interest rates made possible by the most recent City of Columbus bond package
approved by voters in November of 2008. A new proposed bond package is on this
year’s November 5 ballot.
Traffic Management Center/Snow Operations Command
Center Facts
State-of-the-art
equipment at the new TMC allows staff to monitor City of Columbus and ODOT
traffic cameras and make traffic light timing adjustments at nearly 750
signalized intersections in Columbus remotely from the TMC. Traffic light
timing changes will:
- Help make Columbus
streets safer by reducing traffic backups and congestion at intersections
- Improve air quality by
reducing vehicle emission from excessive idling at traffic lights
The new TMC is
part of a five-phase, multi-year project to upgrade the wiring and other
infrastructure of the City’s traffic signal system
- Upon the project’s
completion, TMC staff will be able to adjust the timings of signals at all
of the City’s nearly 1,000 signalized intersections remotely from the TMC
- The project, started in
2010 and scheduled for completion in 2018, is funded through a partnership
that includes the city of Columbus, the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission
and Franklin County
The new TMC
brings Traffic Operations staff and Street Maintenance personnel into a single
facility, resulting in increased efficiency and savings in daily operating
costs
The new TMC’s
7,556 square feet is more than double the size of the old TMC’s 3,400 square
feet. The old TMC was housed in the basement of 109 North Front Street,
which is scheduled for demolition later this year.
City of Columbus Snow Warriors Fact Sheet:
Winter of 2013-14
Snow Warrior Updates
The Department of Public Service will provide updates
of the Snow Warriors work through the department’s Facebook
site at www.facebook.com/ColumbusPublicService and Twitter account at http://twitter.com/ColumbusDPS
How Columbus Plows
Snow: Snow Plan Highlights
Snow routes priorities
Priority 1:
Freeway system (Portions of State Routes 315, 33 and 104. ODOT is
responsible for I-71, I-70, I-670 and I-270); Arterial streets (Examples:
High Street, Broad Street, Morse Road)
Priority 2:
Collector residential streets (Examples: Oakland Park Avenue, Courtright
Road, Hague Avenue, Weber Road)
Priority 3:
Residential streets (Plowed only after four inches of snow are on the ground
and after freeways, arterials and collector residential streets have
been plowed and treated)
In the event of heavy snow storms of four inches or
more when the city of Columbus plows residential streets, residents are asked
to move their cars parked on the street off the street, if possible, to give
plow trucks additional room to plow
When the City of Columbus does plow residential
streets after at least four inches of snow have fallen:
The goal is to
make residential streets passable
Plow trucks do
not plow down to bare pavement on residential streets
Unlike on residential streets, the much higher volume
of vehicle traffic and heat from vehicles combine with plowing and treating to
expose bare pavement on arterial and collector streets
The much lower traffic volumes on residential streets
are not sufficient to help melt snow and ice on plowed residential streets even
if salt is applied
Salt becomes ineffective at 20 degrees or colder
Residential
streets typically are not plowed the entire curb-to-curb width
On cul-de-sacs,
plow trucks plow enough of the cul-de-sac “bulb” to allow vehicles to turn
around, rather than go right to the cul-de-sac bulb curb
Every winter storm is different, so strategy in
responding to a specific storm may vary from that of another storm. And
because winter storm is different, the time needed to plow and treat streets
will vary.
Long,
uninterrupted snow falls require freeways, arterial and collector streets to be
plowed and/or treated repeatedly until the snow stops. These long,
uninterrupted snowfalls that drop more than four inches of snow will affect how
soon the Snow Warriors can begin to plow residential streets
Colder
temperatures, wind, and cloudy conditions after a storm can lengthen the time
it takes to treat and plow streets
Wet, heavy snow
also often increases the time needed to plow and treat streets
The City of Columbus/Department of Public Service does
not plow and treat specific streets upon requests by residents or media.
The 311 Customer Service Center is unable to provide estimates as to when a
specific street will be plowed and treated.
Streets, including residential streets, are plowed in
a systematic manner
At the beginning
of each shift, each driver is given a stack of maps
The driver plows
and treats streets one map area at a time, then returns to the maintenance yard
to get a fresh set of maps and works until his or her shift is completed
Columbus Snow Warriors
Have A Big Job
Columbus’ Snow Warriors are responsible for 6,381 lane
miles of roadway, more than Cleveland and Cincinnati combined (or 2,064 linear
miles, approximately the distance between Columbus and Las Vegas)
Cleveland:
3,000 lane miles
Cincinnati:
2,986 lane miles
Toledo:
2,700 lane miles
Dayton:
1,600 lane miles
Dublin: 502
lane miles
Westerville:
409 lane miles
Reynoldsburg:
270 lane miles
Worthington:
176 lane miles
Gahanna:
140 lane miles
Columbus’ Snow Warriors are responsible for 227 square
miles, much more than their counterparts in other Ohio cities:
Cleveland:
82 square miles
Toledo: 80
square miles
Cincinnati:
79 square miles
Dayton: 57
square miles
Columbus’ Snow Warriors are responsible for a larger
area in square miles than their counterparts in some other major U.S. cities:
- Denver: 153 square
miles
- Detroit: 139
square miles
- Philadelphia: 134
square miles
- Milwaukee: 96
square miles
- Pittsburgh: 55
square miles
- Boston: 48 square
miles
Plow crews in Columbus’ suburban communities are able
to plow their residential streets sooner than Columbus because their cities are
much smaller. In fact, Columbus’ 227 square miles is more than double the
combined square miles of all the suburban communities listed below:
Dublin: 26
square miles
Grove City:
16.2 square miles
Gahanna: 12
square miles
Reynoldsburg:
12 square miles
Hilliard:
11.5 square miles
Upper
Arlington: 9.67 square miles
Pickerington:
9.58 square miles
Worthington:
5 square miles
Bexley: 2.5
square miles
Tracking What Streets Have
Been Plowed
All Snow Warriors’ trucks are equipped with the
GPS/AVL Warrior Watch system, which is an upgrade from the former COMBAT
(Central Ohio Management Based Applied Technology) GPS system used 2009-2012
The new GPS/AVL
Warrior Watch is on all snow plow trucks, including dump trucks, one-ton
pickups and anti-icers
Allows the City
to track locations of trucks in real time; the GPS/AVL Warrior Watch reports
the locations of trucks every 15 seconds
Can track work
trucks are doing (plow is up or down; salting or not)
Helps the City be
more efficient and effective in plowing and treating streets
The new GPS/AVL Warrior Watch system provides a record
of streets that have been plowed
City also can
verify whether a street has been plowed by checking maps that have been
completed by plow truck drivers. The drivers check off streets on their
maps as they plow the streets assigned to them.
Resources: Trucks,
Personnel and Supplies
Tons of salt used/cost/per ton this winter and in past
winters
2013-14:
17,287 tons on hand as of 11/1/13 ($48.69 per ton. NOTE: Prior to
the winter of 2010-11, the City joined an ODOT-led consortium, which helped
lower the price of salt)
2012-13:
21,987 tons ($1.1 million total/$50.92 per ton)
2011-12:
5,681 tons ($332,225 total/$58.48 per ton)
2010-11: 31,722
tons ($1.9 million total/$59.98 per ton)
2009-10: 31,455
tons ($2 million total/$63.34 per ton)
2008-09: 26,109
tons ($1.4 million total/$54 per ton)
2007-08: 37,957
tons ($1.81 million total/$47.58 per ton)
2006-07: 22,901
tons ($955,201 total/$41.71 per ton)
2005-06: 11,346
tons ($464,619/$40.95 per ton)
Number of drivers, plus those cross-trained
2013-14: 114
Equipment Operators (plus 146 cross-trained)
2012-13: 111
Equipment Operators (plus 90 cross-trained)
2011-12: 113
Equipment Operators (plus 73 cross-trained)
2010-11: 112
Equipment Operators (plus 35 cross-trained)
2009-10: 112
Equipment Operators (plus 33 cross-trained)
2008-09: 118
Equipment Operators (plus 27 cross-trained)
2007-08: 122
Equipment Operators (plus 17 cross-trained)
2006-07: 121
Equipment Operators (plus 5 cross-trained)
The City has 6 salt barns
Columbus’ Snow Warriors use different treatments for
streets depending on the conditions
Salt, Calcium
Chloride: Melts snow and ice under most conditions. Applied to road with
highest traffic volumes and highest speeds during and after snow falls. Salt
loses its effectiveness in extremely low temperatures, especially on
lightly-traveled streets.
Brine (a mix of
salt and water): Pavement is pre-treated with brine prior to a
storm. Brine helps prevent snow and ice from bonding to pavement.
ICEBITE
(Beet Juice): blended with Brine or Calcium Chloride depending on the
applicable situation
Residents Have A Role, Too
Residents also have a role during and after snow
storms
Drive with extra
care and leave additional distance between you and the vehicle in front of you
Maintain a
distance of no less than 100 feet behind a snow plow truck
Avoid passing
snow plow trucks because the drivers cannot always see a smaller car about to
pass
Follow snow
emergency laws when a snow emergency is declared
When possible,
park vehicles in driveways or parking lots and off streets to give plow trucks
room to plow
Check on senior
citizens, shut-ins and other neighbors with mobility impairments
Whether a home or
business, shovel your sidewalk, driveway apron and any wheelchair ramps in
front of your home or business
Pile snow in
yards. Never shovel snow into the street or sidewalks.
Apply salt, sand
or cat litter to icy steps and paths
When the snow
begins to melt, clear snow from in front of catch basins by shoveling the snow
into storm sewers. The heat of the storm sewer will melt the snow and
allow other melting snow and ice to flow freely into storms sewers.
More Snow Warrior Facts
As Columbus has more than 200,000 private driveways,
moving plowed snow from private driveway aprons would add weeks to each plowing
effort
City would have
to purchase dozens of tractors at $75,000 each, which would add millions to the
City budget to purchase and maintain
Columbus Snow Warriors have other job responsibilities
including, but not limited to:
Patching potholes
Street cleaning
Alley surfacing
treatment
Mowing
Underpass
cleaning
Graffiti removal
Because our Snow Warriors
need to be focused on doing the work to make streets safer while they are
behind the wheel during and after snow storms, the City does not grant media
and residents’ requests to do ride-alongs with Snow Warriors.
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