APPLETON (NBC26) — City of Appleton and Outagamie County crews are preparing for Tuesday night's snow event.
Lance Wilkinson, operations foreman with the Appleton Department of Public Works Streets Division, said they start planning for winter weather in the summer. Team members began planning for Northeast Wisconsin's second major snowfall of the year several days ago.
On Tuesday, city crews loaded trucks and set up snow plows. Staff double checked machines for any mechanical issues before equipment was used.
Wilkinson said as soon as the snow starts, a "maintain crew" will be out on city roads.
“That’s just maintaining hills, bridges, our main streets, our collectors, and just making sure the main roadways are open and safe for travel," Wilkinson said.
Wilkinson estimated the department's full scale snow plan will go into effect between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. Wednesday. He expects crews to be working up to 10 hours clearing snow, adding the city's salt supply is well stocked.
The Outagamie County Highway Department has also been preparing for Tuesday night's snowfall for several days, having mechanics check equipment and loading salt into trucks.
Dean Steingraber, Outagamie County highway commissioner, said the county currently has about 5,000 tons of salt in four sheds that will be replenished throughout winter.
He added the county is transitioning from rock salt to salt grind. Staff adds water to the salt, which is put on trucks with attached tanks. Steingraber said salt grind stays on the road better than rock salt. Last year, the county used more than one million gallons of salt grind.
By early Wednesday morning, Steingraber expects all 45 county plowing units to be on the road. Crews will be out as soon as the "first flake starts falling."
"That's what we do here at the highway department is plow snow. So this is kind of where our crews shine," Steingraber said. "All the planning, all the work that goes into preparation, now you go out there and actually get it done."
County crews will work mostly along Highway 41 and Highway 441. Steingraber predicts they'll be out from early Wednesday morning into the afternoon.
Officials suggest people avoid traveling Wednesday. If people need to be out, they advise driving slowly and adding 15 to 20 minutes to commute time.
