Bulawa letter: Snow plowing

The Idaho Statesman reported on Dec. 28 that ACHD stated that it could not plow side roads because of its commitment to clear 4,000 miles of higher priority roads with its 37 plows, each manned by two drivers. Well, let’s do the math. Overall, each plow would be responsible for 4,000/37 = 108 miles of road. Each plow could clear both sides of the road (108 miles/plow * 2 sides per road / 8 hours per shift) at an average speed of 27 miles per hour. So at that reasonable speed, all 4,000 miles of road would be cleared in one 8-hour shift. Even at half that speed (i.e. 13 miles per hour), the 4,000 miles of priority roads would be cleared in one day (over two shifts). The plows would then be available to clear side streets. Furthermore, if ACHD administrative staff were trained to drive plows (in emergency snowfall situations), the plows could be used over three shifts per 24-hour period to provide 50 percent more road coverage. So, the way I see it , the resources are there to plow the side roads and Ada County taxpayers should expect more.

This story was originally published January 10, 2017 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Bulawa letter: Snow plowing."