Winter Snow Removal

Winter weather is soon to be upon Woodbury County.   With that realization, it is time for a reminder about the county snow removal policy.  Woodbury County's Secondary Road Department will work hard again this year to get roads open as quickly as possible following a snow or ice storm.  As drivers and users of the road system, everyone should be familiar with the county’s plan of action to clear the roads.

County snow removal procedures are based on Woodbury County Ordinance Number 1, passed by the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors on September 9, 1985 and amended on January 4, 2016.  This ordinance establishes Woodbury County's policy and level of snow and ice removal and maintenance under winter conditions.  Copies of the ordinance are available from the county engineer's office and on the Woodbury County website, http:/woodburycountyiowa.gov.

County operating procedure when winter weather threatens is for the road foreman to begin checking road conditions between 2:30 and 4:00 A.M.  Sheriff’s deputies also help the road department watch the roads outside of normal operating hours.    Based on these observations, the foreman or county engineer determine the severity of the storm and the level of snow removal response necessary and appropriate for weather conditions.  Staff are called out by district as the effects of the storm can vary greatly across a county the size of Woodbury.    

Secondary road crews will generally not operate before 6:00 AM or after 5:00 PM on the paved and dawn to dusk on the unpaved roads, except in emergencies.    The county has neither the staff nor the budget to provide 24-hour per day service.   As stated in the county policy, paved roads will be opened first.  If conditions are such that the road graders are needed to help in snow removal on the paved roads, the opening of unpaved roads will be delayed.  Snow removal operations on designated essential industrial routes will commence at 4:30 AM and may be extended until 5:30 PM, depending upon storm conditions.  Designated routes will be reviewed and designated annually by review of the Board of Supervisors in consultation with the county engineer.   Essential industrial routes typically serve industries with 24-hour operations and include power plants and chemical plants.   Snow removal service hours will be extended for these industries to assure required personnel shift changes at these industries.

As we begin to work on unpaved roads, we will open the unpaved roads that are above level B service to one lane and then improve them as time and weather conditions allow.   Some unpaved roads will be opened to two lanes, if in the judgement of the patrol operator two-lane opening is necessary to prevent immediate blockage of the road due to drifting and blowing snow.    Operators may also open a road in two passes to avoid deadheading to the next road to be plowed.   Level B roads may not be plowed at all during the winter. 

It is not within the county policy to place abrasives on the rock roads.   The county instead uses special ice bits that can more economically and efficiently restore rock roads to traversable condition.   Abrasives on rock roads provide, at best, only a temporary increase in traction, are expensive, and in some cases impossible to apply, and the effort frequently cannot be sustained due to cold winter temperatures which can literally freeze material in the truck boxes.    Truck plows and spreaders necessary for applying abrasives to the unpaved roads are also directed as a first priority to the clearance of snow on the paved roads, frequently leaving them unavailable for work on the unpaved roads.  

If weather conditions create hazardous working conditions, as happens during heavy falling or blowing snow, snow removal units may be pulled off the roads.  If this occurs while school is in session, our department or the sheriff's office will notify the schools as early as circumstances allow so that the schools can arrange for safe dismissal of students before snow removal units are forced off the roads.

Woodbury County Secondary Road crews will respond to emergencies outside normal working hours and/or interrupt the normal sequence of service when conditions where loss of life is probable, where a serious injury has occurred, or where extensive loss of property is imminent.  Emergencies should be reported by calling 911, not county road department staff members.   Emergency conditions have to be verified through the sheriff's department or 911 emergency dispatch. 

The county will respond to emergency conditions either during or after a snowstorm.  Persons making false reports of an emergency to an officer, official, or an employee of Woodbury County or who cause a false report to be made, shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine of $100.00 or imprisonment of not more than 30 days in the county jail.  This may sound very severe for a false report of an emergency, but in some severe weather conditions the patrol or truck operator's life and county equipment are at risk should the operator experience an equipment breakdown or become stranded in the snow when responding to a false emergency.  At the very least, the false emergency report delays snow removal, as one or more units are forced to leave their normal route to reach the caller.  This causes a holdup in the completion of snow removal operations.  False reports inconvenience the public and create added expense for county taxpayers. 

Please remember not to push or pile snow from your driveway onto the roadway or shoulders.  This creates a hazard to the traveling public and can complicate and slow our snow removal process.  Remember to keep fence gates closed and not projecting toward the road where they can be struck by the wing of the motor grader.   Try to plan ahead and keep food and sufficient heating fuel on hand in case snow removal is delayed for a couple of days because of the severity of the storm.  If winter weather is threatening, do not travel unless it is an emergency.  It is better to be stranded at home than in the middle of a snowdrift.  If you absolutely must travel in threatening weather, make sure someone on both ends of the trip knows your route and your estimated time of arrival, and pack a winter survival kit so you are prepared if you do become stranded.

The Woodbury County Secondary Road Department will work hard again this winter to minimize the inconvenience to the traveling public that winter storms cause.  With your cooperation and patience, we will all get through the upcoming winter season.