HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 05.b• Winter, the Extended Version
LAKEVILLE PUBLIC WORKS
Christopher Petree, Director
March 2013
There is no doubt that March has
been a tough month. Thoughts of
spring dashed repeatedly by snow
and sub -zero temperatures.
Lakeville saw 14 inches of snow over
the month, the most since 2008 with
18 inches (5 of which arrived on
March 31). With the timing of the
snow storms crews were out early
many March mornings to clear
collector roads and then move
into and clear residential
streets. The high water content
in the snow made it hard to
push and left streets slippery
until daytime temps and
deicing chemicals were able to
melt down to the pavement
again. Fortunately, pavement
temperatures were high
enough that the deicer worked efficiently and snow and ice r •__
melted off most roads quickly.
These last snow events were
not without problems though; snowplow breakdowns were repaired as quickly as
possible to get them back on the street. Through mid - March, there were 9 snow
events with crews out for over 1,100 hours clearing snow and ice and applying
over 800 tons of deicer.
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• Accessing Public Works Information
There is a lot going on in the City 0+
of Lakeville this year, from the
2013 street reconstruction
project to replacement of a
bridge in the Valley Park area to
improvements to traffic signals
by Dakota County. It is a lot of
information to keep track of,
especially when it affects your
neighborhood and home. To
make this a bit easier, the Public
Works Department has
established new web pages to
keep residents up to date on City
construction projects. The current projects page
lists all of the projects for the current year and
provides access to all of the information available
for each project. This includes the results of any
neighborhood meetings, reports pertinent to the
project, and periodic updates on project status. A
page on proposed and planned construction
projects will provide similar information as it
becomes available. Public Works is also on
Facebook. We are using Facebook to
provide information on what is happening
day -to -day around the City. Things that have
an immediate impact on people such as
water main breaks affecting a certain
neighborhood, unplanned road closures,
quick project updates, and other Public
Works activities as they occur. Our intent
with both of these tools is to get pertinent
information out to Lakeville residents in a
timely manner about what's going on in the City and invite feedback to improve
our processes. Both the current and proposed construction projects pages and the
Facebook page can be accessed through the City's website.
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Just a Note on Spring Load Restrictions
Each year, the Minnesota Department of
Transportation (MnDOT) establishes the start
date for spring Toad restrictions. Lakeville
falls within the metro zone and follows
MnDOT in setting local load restrictions. The
purpose of load restrictions is to protect the
integrity of the roadway while the ground
goes through the spring thaw and has
higher moisture content. The higher
moisture content makes the road more
flexible and susceptible to damage by
heavily loaded vehicles. Locally, Lakeville's
roads are all limited to 5 -ton per axle unless
otherwise posted. The end date for load
restrictions is dependent on a number of
variables including frost depth, moisture
content, and spring weather patterns and
can vary from year to year. However, MnDOT policy is that spring load restrictions
will last no more than 8 weeks. Lakeville's load restrictions will end at the same
time as MnDOT's. Spring load restrictions went into effect on Friday, March 15.
AXLE
WEIGHT
LIMIT
5 TONS
3