Spokane County ready for busy snow season, officials say

Spokane County road crews are preparing for another busy snow season.

At a news conference Wednesday ahead of predicted snowfall on Friday, the county’s maintenance and operations supervisor, Bob Keneally, said crews would prioritize snow removal in four steps: main arterials and emergency routes, secondary arterials, hilly residential areas and, lastly, flat residential areas.

Unlike the city of Spokane, which recently revamped its snow plan after receiving criticism last year, the county hasn’t made any significant changes to its winter protocol, Keneally said.

“We’re not going to change much,” he said. “Our crews do a great job. We’re satisfied and I hope the public is, too.”

Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter, a spokeswoman for the public works department, said Spokane County maintains more than 2,500 miles of roads, more than any other county in the state. About 1,100 of those miles are dirt or gravel roads.

Bryan Dowd, who supervises one of the county’s four road maintenance districts, said it takes about four days of continuous plowing, sanding, grading and de-icing to clear every stretch of county road after a major snow event.

The county uses a 1-to-3 ratio of de-icer and sand, and Keneally said it’s not known to significantly damage vehicles.

“The corrosion that we do have is very minimal,” he said.

The county has about $3 million budgeted for winter road maintenance. Wheatley-Billeter said any leftover funds would be used for summer maintenance projects if the winter and spring are milder than expected.

Heavy flooding last spring caused millions of dollars in road damage and prompted the county to apply for federal emergency aid. The total financial impact of that flooding wasn’t immediately available Wednesday.

During snow events, the public can check the progress of county road crews on an interactive map at SpokaneCounty.org/engineer. There will be a link titled “Snow Plow Priority Routes.”