Do you ever wonder what becomes of the debris that is left after winter snows, rains, and winds have battered the Inland Northwest for 5 months? With ice storms and other inclement weather patterns, we will use close to 1,000 tons of washed sand a year for traction and to mitigate slick roads. What becomes of this material is a tradition treasured by the city. It is what we call “Spring Clean-up.” Spring clean-up is a time to put away the plows, rake the yards, plant flowers, and wash away the winter blues.
For the Street Maintenance Department, this means clean-up crews are out in the wee hours of the morning, sweeping and washing the winter traction material away. These crews begin their days at 4:00 a.m., cleaning and washing arterials and major intersections free of sand and grit. This is a major task in itself and can take up to several months to complete. By cleaning this debris early in the spring, we assure ourselves of the air quality that we all enjoy. Spring cleanup offers us all a chance to look around and reflect on our clean, beautiful surroundings.
The City of Coeur d’Alene uses four sweepers to clean and scrub our roads. Two of these machines are air regenerative vacuum machines. Air regenerative means that they suck into the hopper the same amount of air that they blast onto the roadway. In theory this means they are virtually dust free and require little water. The two other machines are mechanical scrubbers. They scrub the street surface free of hard-packed debris. As we move forward into residential areas, machines will work in tandem along with a water truck to ensure that we have clean streets, free of branches and debris.
The water truck serves several purposes. It will pre-wet the debris on the streets, flush the street with a deluge of water to move material away from the center of the road, and clean centerlines so that we may put the finishing touches on spring striping. Spring striping is an annual event here in the Lake City. As the ambient air temperatures rise into the mid-50s, our striping crews will be out preparing to put a fresh coat of paint on our roads.
Crews will begin applying 1,500 gallons of paint and 4,000 pounds of reflective glass beads in late April as weather allows. This work is very tedious and takes a lot of concentration. If you watch the operation for any length of time, you’ll be able to see a lot of teamwork between the driver and the sprayer, which ensures the best job possible. Street crews will spray over 150 miles of traffic paint as well as bike paths.
Weather permitting, street striping will take 10-to-12 working days to complete. For your motoring safety, a traffic message board will run with the striper to warn you of wet paint. So follow along with us as the striping crew puts the finishing touches on spring!
