Crested Butte snow safety plan firmed up

Snowbank compromise and help with the driveway ice berms

Winter isn’t far off and the town of Crested Butte wants to see a real winter this year. Last year the town Public Works Department instituted a new “Snow and Ice Control Operations Plan,” but given the warm winter and relative lack of snow, the plan wasn’t fully tested. They did learn a few things however, and one thing they want to improve on is controlling the ice pushed into local driveways when the snowpack on the street is cleared and moved to the side of the roads.

“The plan is basically the same as last year,” explained Public Works director Rodney Due. “But we didn’t see enough snow last year to determine all the flaws.”
One flaw they did see was pushing hardened snowpack into local driveways. It didn’t make homeowners happy to have to move chunks of ice and hard snow out of the entrance to their driveway when the town peeled up the snowpack from the streets.
“We heard people had to use picks to get it out. That’s just not right,” said Due. “So this winter we will try to make sure driveways aren’t hammered with pack ice. We’ll have equipment that clears the driveway berms when we pull up the pack. It won’t happen in snowstorms. Let’s be very clear about that. We’ll do our best to clear those entrances when we are pulling up the pack between storms. Homeowners will still have to deal with snow from plows when there is a storm. Driveways will still get snow berms when we plow during or after storms.”
The town didn’t include the new driveway policy in the official snow plan, but it was a clearly stated goal to not leave ice in local driveways. “We don’t want to over-promise on this but it is our intent to do it,” said town manager Susan Parker.
Due told the council the plan would go into effect December 1 and last through March. That’s when extra personnel will be hired to work night shifts. During that period, the plows will come out when three inches of snow is recorded. Until December 1, the plows stay in the garage until 6 inches of snow fall on the streets.
Councilperson David Owen wanted to make sure people weren’t hampered if the town experienced a big snowstorm in November.
“That seemed to be a problem last year,” he said.
Due said the snowfall during a November storm in 2011 was actually measured at less than three inches but winds made some parts of town feel like it had been caught in a major blizzard. “If we get a big storm in November, it will be all hands on deck,” assured Due.
“Through the winter the quality of the streets depends on how much we get and when we get it,” explained Due. “If it starts snowing at 5 a.m. that doesn’t give us much time to deal because we allow people to park on both sides of the street. It’s not like in Mt. Crested Butte where people can’t park on the streets, so they can maintain the streets all day. We have certain safety issues to deal with, especially after about 8 a.m. when it starts to get busy.”

Snowbanks are pretty…and dangerous
As part of the plan, there was the annual discussion over whether the snowbanks on Elk Avenue should stay or go. The council decided to stay with last year’s plan and pull them after storms but leave them during periods near special events that need snow on Elk Avenue like the Alley Loop Nordic ski race or the Big Air on Elk extravaganzas.
“It’s a discussion every year and some people like the snowbanks and some people don’t like them at all,” said Due. “I pulled an ad off the CBMR website today that used a photo of Elk Avenue with snowbanks. They like them. We think this plan reflects a compromise between the aesthetics and public safety. The plan pulls [the snowbanks] off Elk pretty soon after a storm most of the winter.”
“It is a lot safer without the snowbanks,” Chief Marshal Tom Martin told the council. “When they get too big and become a hazard we close off parking on the north side of the street. My preference is to not have them.”
“I’m a pro-snowbank guy,” said Councilperson Jim Schmidt. “But this plan is a good compromise. I’ve never seen a winter postcard of downtown Crested Butte without the snowbanks on Elk. This plan helps satisfy business owners on both sides of the issue.”
Longtime local business owner Eric Roemer said he felt the plan was pretty solid overall. “The quicker you pull the snowbanks, the better for me,” he said. He related the experience of parking on the south side of the street after the banks had frozen and exiting a car only to slip and fall and slide beneath the vehicle. “It’s more embarrassing than hurtful but it’s not a good experience,” he said.
Roemer also mentioned the state of the snowbanks if they haven’t been pulled after a storm. “They can get pretty grody pretty fast with dirt and cigarette butts. It’s not always appealing. But overall the plan looks great.”
“My solution for bad looking snowbanks is more snow,” quipped Huckstep.
“And historically after a bad year like last winter, we always get a great snow year. So we should have a really great year this winter,” responded Roemer, who has lived in the valley longer than the Utes.
The council agreed with the snowbank timing and the entire snow control plan. That means extra personnel will be hired to deal with nighttime snow maintenance. Due did express some concern with open snow storage spaces disappearing. The town uses several vacant lots owned by private parties and if those spaces go away, the snow will have to be hauled farther away and that costs money.
“There will be deviations from the plan as situations develop,” Due warned the council. “But we will never put public safety at risk.”