OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – There’s definitely no snow or ice in the foreseeable forecast, but Oklahoma City Public Works is making sure they’re ready for the day it shows up. As the seasons change, it’s time to start testing equipment and training new employees, which started this week on Monday morning.
Even with nothing to push off the roads during a late September or early October in Oklahoma, there’s plenty of work to be done in preparation for the day there is.
“We’re testing all of our equipment. We’re training our new employees. It’s a constant thing,” OKC Public Works Emergency Operations Manager Mike Love Jr. said.
It’s a time to learn about operational awareness and preach best practices.
“They get to put the plows out, put them in the trucks, driving teams, learn how to do their spacing, everything that needs to be muscle memory when you’re actually out there plowing snow,” Love Jr. said.
The two-tier training goes on through Friday. There’s some in-class work over tactics, equipment cleaning, operation, and maintenance before heading outside to their training area near SW 44th Street and Roff Ave.
“It is way better to test the stuff and fix it when it’s nice outside,” Love Jr. said.
They added 200 more lane miles of snow routes this year, which takes them to covering 2,000 lane miles of the total 9,000 across the city.
“Our snow routes are set up where that nobody has to travel more than one mile to get to a treated route,” Love Jr. said. “Unfortunately, we can’t do neighborhoods. We just do not have the manpower.”
There are about 14,000 tons of salt between their two small salt barns, some beet-brine mixture for pre-treatment, and over a dozen new employees getting ready to rock and roll with winter on the horizon.
“We do the level best to prepare them all,” he said.
Love Jr. said trucks can use up to 300 tons of salt per night, and they do their best to never run out of material.
