Breezy Point has some challenges when it comes to some of
our roads. We have paved roadways that
in general require routine maintenance and plowing activities. They are a little more difficult to deal with
when it comes to ice early in the season but with salt and sand these
difficulties can be overcome. Plowing of
paved roads occurs when snow accumulation is about 2 inches.
Breezy Point has used brine to pretreat roads for a number
of years. This works very well when the
temperatures are right and you don’t have rain to wash it away. We use salt and sand-salt when the conditions
call for those approaches. When the
temperatures become extreme sand seems to be the only approach for traction on
paved roads.
Gravel roads on the other hand require different approaches. The gravel surface is not as durable as a
paved road and every effort is made to get them graded to an acceptable surface
in the fall. As winter starts to set in
we get snow and rain which can soften the surface considerably. With these conditions, unless the road bed
freezes the surface can become uneven and stay that way all winter long. Snow on the roadways helps fill in these
uneven spots. A small snow pack on the
roadway creates a crust of snow. This crust is important for traction and
facilitates freezing making the road more durable for plowing.
Gravel roads are not typically plowed in early winter. They see some plowing if the snow depth is
too deep to travel however. Gravel
roadways need to freeze in order to hold up.
Plowing a gravel road that hasn’t frozen creates problems. The gravel itself can easily get plowed away
into the ditch. This leaves the roadway
without rocks providing no traction making the road more difficult for travel. This also creates maintenance issues and
expense later. Plowing the snow off the
road increases solar gain. Unless we get
extreme temperatures to provide for a freeze this makes the freeze-up more difficult
as it creates extended freeze thaw problems.
Every winter the conditions are somewhat different. The public works crew is skilled at doing
their jobs and understands these limitations.
They use the right tools and methods for the conditions that are given
them. Roadways in the winter in northern
Minnesota are not handled the same way as roads in a metro area. This is particularly true for gravel
roads. Unless you have experienced these
dynamics it is difficult to understand there are methods to what may appear to
be inattention or madness. Public works
does a great job managing our 61 miles of roads in the city, winter is just
another challenge.
