CU and the City of Boulder continue to recover from recent blizzards
Snow, although fun to ski and snowboard in, is a pain in the neck to remove once it has fallen from the sky. And the recent blizzards required a lot of effort to keep the roadways clear.
Clear for driving, that is, though not necessarily for parking.
Peter Rosato is the transportation and utilities maintenance supervisor for the City of Boulder. He is in charge of the 16 snowplows used by the city to clear the streets.
“We do not have a plan for the removal of snow in parking spots,” Rosato said. “Parking is not our priority.”
Rosato said that their priority is keeping the streets clear for automobile traffic. The first roads to be cleared of snow are those used as bus routes.
Unfortunately, the snow cleared from the street is usually pushed to the side of the road. This happens to be parking space in most cases.
The Hill, Rosato said, is a good example of how snow and ice are moved from the road at the expense of parking.
The only plan the City of Boulder has for the snow piled around town is for it to melt–sort of the, “God brought it, now God can take it away” strategy.
Pan Greager is the assistant director of field operations at CU. She said CU has a contract with facilities management to remove the snow that falls on campus.
“The goal with snow removal is to have campus open by 7 a.m. on business days,” Greager said.
The priorities for snow cleanup on campus are public access roads, then walkways and access for people with disabilities. Parking is the third concern.
Greager said students, staff and faculty should stick with their usual parking plan in cases of snow. The snow removal plan is based on existing permit issuance, so parking lots will be cleared based on parking volume.
“Take some care when coming to campus in adverse conditions,” Greager said. “Personal preparedness is essential.”
Sam Patterson is the operations manager of parking and transportation at CU. He said any closures of the campus would be posted on the first page of CU Connect.
“We’ve had about the same amount of snow in the last month as we had all of last year,” Patterson said. “It has been a challenge, but the campus has done a very good job keeping the roads, sidewalks and parking areas cleared of snow.”
