This week's Halloween snowfall reminds us that seasons change. And inside the Coon Rapids Public Works building, the Streets Department is preparing for winter. Dump trucks are being turned into plow trucks.
"This assembly here is a sander which allows the operator to adjust it for how many pounds of salt per mile they put down depending on temperature and road conditions," said William Meyer, lead mechanic.
Although the snow took many by surprise, public works was not.
"Around this time of the year, we plan to have most of our equipment up and running by November 1st."
Streets Supervisor Josh Peterson and his team were ready Tuesday to go out and clear the roads.
"We saw about two to three inches that fell, there's about an inch on the roadway," Peterson said. "We had trucks in at 4:30 a.m. just running the arterial roads, making sure that the morning commute was open to traffic."
And then there are the 107 miles of sidewalks in the city. Public Works has five sidewalk machines which they use to remove the snow.
"At this point in time, most all has been melted but we do our best to get them down to bare pavement as close as we can without using any chemicals," Peterson said.
Street sweepers have made it through the city just once. But they'd like to get through three full sweeps in the fall.
"We plan to go back in full action starting next Monday (Nov. 6) with our two city-owned sweepers along with three contracted sweepers," Peterson said.
The City reminds all drivers that winter parking restrictions are now in effect. No Parking is allowed on City streets between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. daily, and also after a snowfall of three or more inches until the road is plowed from curb-to-curb. The restrictions end on April 1.