MUNCIE, Ind. — After recent snowfall in Muncie, the city is able to keep up with the snow using a strategic plan. Trucks are stored at the City of Muncie’s Sanitation Department, where plows and salt spreaders are attached to each truck.
“We make sure that we always have our salt barns filled with salt in preparation for that,” Donnie Wright, Operations director for the Muncie Department of Public Works, said.
When there isn’t any inclement weather, the plows undergo maintenance at the city’s depot.
“In our garage right now we have some plows that stay on,” said Wright. “Some that get utilized we have to put them back on, and it’s just a matter of filling them up and putting them on the roads.”
Wright also says that city plows are deployed to the major intersections and highways first. Public works follow specific guidelines to plow secondary streets.
“Thoroughfares, secondaries, the MITS bus company has bus routes; we try to make sure that we have all that route covered,” said Wright. “So they can get through, we do not go into neighborhood roads unless there is six inches or more of snow. If we get six inches or more of snow and we’re working on the main roads, the Muncie sanitary district steps in, helps us out.”
Ball State University is not under contract with the City of Muncie sanitation. Instead, the campus operates an independent landscaping service.
“This time of year, early November, [we’re] starting to get our equipment,” Director of Landscaping Michael Planton said. “Inspected and getting it ready for snow season, by the time Thanksgiving arrives, we are pretty much ready for snow removal.”
Planton says that specialized outdoor heating systems are able to help remove snow near buildings across campus.
“There are several buildings that have heated systems. As you go into the building, we get those turned on and inspected to make sure they are working.”
Both organizations work to keep the city and students safe during the harsh winter season. City management reminds drivers across the city to be mindful of plows and to drive carefully, staying at least 500 feet away from salt trucks.
Contact Isaiah Fairrow with comments at isaiah.fairrow@bsu.edu
