Beatrice Street Crews Ready for Winter

BEATRICE – If you’ve driven on Beatrice City Streets this week, you’ve probably seen those strips of liquid running lengthwise on the pavement.
It’s part of the arsenal being employed by the Beatrice City Street Department again, as it gets ready for winter conditions.

For a dry, one-inch snowfall, Moore says the liquid is ideal for that amount. When we track it like it is, you'll get a nice even coat on the road. "It will delay the time that we have to come in, during the morning.....it saves on the overtime, saves on the salt", Moore said. The liquid is designed to melt snow and ice from the surface, upward.

Beatrice Street Superintendent Jason Moore says his department has more salt on hand for the upcoming season, following a rough winter last season. He said the department had about 400 tons of salt left over from last season. This year, around 950 tons was ordered for the coming season. "Over the past few years, I've really worked on increasing the amount of salt...eventually would like to get to a point where we're just putting down salt.....not a salt gravel mix. There's less cleanup at the end. We don't have to go back and sweep up", Moore said.

The department ordered ten thousand gallons of the liquid de-icer for the coming season…but Moore acknowledges that it’s a roll-of-the-dice, as to how bad the winter season will be.

"We're ready. We've got the sanders on, we've got the plows on, the trucks are all ready to go....everything's as ready as it can be".
Last year’s winter weather included several storms with blizzard conditions, hampering visibility across the region.