To the Editor:
Snowplow: A machine for the clearing of snow (per the dictionary).
Usually, county roads are cleared by county snowplows and county
employees. East Main Street in Caledonia is County Highway 3 and
therefore, it would seem logical that county snowplows and county
employees are clearing the snow on this road. Regardless of who is
clearing the snow, is there an ordinance that requires snowplow drivers
to travel at high speeds so as to make the snow become a projectile? Is
there a job duty requirement that requires this?
Many of us on East Main Street are contemplating these facts and we
believe that many others are discussing these concerns. Almost
every resident in blocks 300 and 400 are over 65 and several of them
hire others to do the clearing. During the recent snow storm, East Main
Street sidewalks were cleared of the snow fall by the early evening.
Most of the snow banks are over 40 inches high and the snow is stored
on the island between the road and the sidewalk. These are very
responsible citizens!
I’m not an engineer; however, I know that the City and the County have
(a) engineer(s) and perhaps they can answer the following question:
“How fast must a snowplow speed in order to have the snow become a
projectile which flies over 40 inch high banks and a distance of about
15 to 20 feet to land on everyone’s sidewalk outside their homes?” I
know that on my home’s sidewalk, the flying snow was 6 to 8 inches
deep. Among other things, this could be endangerment to others
(especially the disabled and elderly) and very costly to many citizens
who have to shovel the projectiles which often are large chunks of
snow/ice mixtures.
Is anyone against the snowplow drivers slowing down to a safe speed in
the cities so that the snow doesn’t become projectiles and/or land on
citizen’s sidewalks? Safety first!
Larry Salm
Caledonia, Minn.
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