As the Washoe County Roads Team prepares for this week’s winter storm, it is offering some safety tips for residents on its website. The tips can also be viewed this this video.
- Prepare – Check tires and stock your vehicle with safety gear, water, and food. Make alternative arrangement for work and school during storms, and leave early enough to minimize delays.
- Remove roadway obstacles – Limit the amount of time that garbage cans sit in the street or right-of-way. Don’t park on the street when a storm is forecast. Observe winter parking restrictions in Incline Village/Crystal Bay. Call 775-833-5555 to learn if parking is red (no) or green (go).
- Be patient – Snow berms happen. Snow plow drivers try to avoid creating berms across driveways and sidewalks, but their priority is a safe travel lanes, and piles of snow may accumulate.
- Play safe – Don’t let children or pets play in snowbanks along the road.
Washoe County services more than 1,000 miles of road with 34 snow-control routes. To prepare for snow, crews treat Priority 1 streets with a saline solution to prevent ice buildup. Brining is a first step in keeping the main thoroughfares open and is usually be done three or four days before a storm arrives.
During a storm, plows clear streets and roads during daytime hours, starting early to clear the way for morning commuters. Streets are cleared in order of priority, and residents can learn more about priority routes here. Top priority is arterial and collector streets along school and bus routes, as well as routes to fire stations and hospitals. The next tier is neighborhood through-streets, following by Priority 3 cul-de-sacs, dead-end roads, and industrial streets. Finally, pedestrian routes are in the fourth and final tier.
Plows will also spread a sand and salt mix to add traction to the streets, and will send street sweepers out to clean up sand and salt after a storm. During a break in the storm, residents will see snow-blowers that clear the plowed snow away from the roadside. Built-up snow can narrow roadways, so blowing the snow away from the shoulder helps keep streets wider and safer.
Residents in the Incline Village/Crystal Bay area can track plows in real-time with the county’s online “Where’s My Plow” function.
Residents should remember that Washoe County is responsible for non-city streets, and works hand-in-hand with the City of Sparks and City of Reno to ensure the whole area is serviced during winter weather. For more information on Washoe County’s snow-removal efforts, visit https://www.washoecounty.gov/csd/operations/roads/Snow%20and%20Ice/index.php.
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