Video shows extent of city snow cleanup

How much snow did the most recent winter storm deliver?

Enough that the city already has hauled nearly 6,000 loads of snow from emergency routes and opened several new snow collection sites.

That compares with 1,200 loads in a typical snow-alert event.

Overall, the cleanup is “going pretty good,” said Daniel Whipple, street supervisor. “Downtown looks really good. We got downtown picked up last Friday overnight into Saturday, so that was a two-day pickup operation. Normally, we’d get it done in a night.”

The city has been focusing on picking up snow along emergency routes, beginning with areas that have sidewalks for pedestrians and now continuing in areas where lanes have narrowed.

“We’re visually driving them and noting which ones are covering up lanes and which ones are going to cause the biggest issues at the moment,” Whipple said. “After that, we’re just doing it by needs for future potential capacity for future snows, making sure we can get as many lanes as we can back open.”

So where does all the snow go? Usually, to three sites: near the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds, near 69th Street and Louise Avenue, and at the Street Department’s shop on North Cliff Avenue.

As you can see from this drone footage provided by the city of the fairgrounds site, those are filling up:

“We’ve actually stopped hauling snow to that location,” Whipple said “And we’ve opened up one south of the fairgrounds … and we opened up one at Benson and Sycamore, and another one just north of Minnesota Avenue and 60th Street North.”

The hope is the city will be done picking up snow by a week from Friday, he said.

Drivers are reminded to give the snow-removal equipment space on the road.

“We’re working on major roads, and some people are in a hurry trying to sneak by, and we have people who try to drive through the windrow and get stuck, and that stops the operation,” Whipple said.

The city has been running 12-hour shifts since about mid-December with only one day that didn’t call for them, he added. The hope is to give crews a normal weekend.

Residents are responsible for clearing the snow around mailboxes and fire hydrants.

While the city usually does not pick up snow on residential streets, residents can report spots with specific issues through the city of Sioux Falls app or by clicking here.