Snow Plowing

Priority 1 - Arterial Roads & Bridges

• Plowing is performed as conditions warrant with a focus on arterial roads and bridges. 

• Coordination with Broken Arrow Police Department on accident and problem areas

• Full plowing activities for snow events begin as conditions warrant. 

Priority 2 - Collector/Feeder Roads

• Side streets and those leading into neighborhoods will be considered after arterials are cleared.

Priority 3 - Residential Roads

• Neighborhood streets will not be plowed, unless the grade of street(s) exceeds a 10% slope. 

Icy Roads

Priorities 1 & 2

• Pre-treatment will begin prior to precipitation. Salt will make ice and packed snow safer to travel, but sun and warm temperatures are the only thing that will remove ice.

Operations

• The City has 16 dump trucks equipped with snow plows and sanders. The Street Division operates up to 16 trucks on 12-hour shifts, 24 hours each day during inclement weather.

• The City typically stocks 2,400 tons of salt.

• Street crews pre-treat streets with materials within 3 hours of predicted precipitation when the temperature is at/below 28 degrees.

• Although salt is normally used to melt ice and snow, it is ineffective when the temperature is below 15 degrees. Sand is used to increase traction and to help break the packed snow/ice.

• Snow plows cannot remove ice or packed snow from roadways. The salt will make ice/packed snow safer to travel, but sun and warm temperatures are the only thing that will remove ice. As the ice becomes slush, it can be plowed off the roadway.

• Although each truck is equipped with a snow plow, plows are designed for snow that is up to 4 inches. When there's a heavy snowfall in a short period of time, the snow must be removed in increments of 4" at a time. 

Note: The Broken Arrow Expressway, Old Highway 51, and the Creek Turnpike are maintained by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.