Denver activates residential plowing schedule amid heavy snowfall

The Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) announced it will activate its residential plowing program starting at midnight Friday. The city is planning two 12-hour shifts.

The plows for private users are smaller plows, usually trucks with an attached plow blade. The residential plows will drive once through the middle of each side street. They do not transport de-icing material and do not scratch the asphalt.

Denver initiated a residential plowing program during the 2006-07 snowstorms to keep residential streets passable. Before the program, residents often had problems with deep ruts forming in side streets, which would then freeze over each night, making the roads even more treacherous. The program covers approximately 1,260 miles of residential streets.

There will be more snow in the Eastern Plains of Colorado. Alex Lehnert, First Alert meteorologist, says it snows “once in a generation” in southern Colorado.

Meteorologists are forecasting temperatures around 50°C on Sunday, which should make a big contribution to melting the snow and clearing the roads.