Minot street crews are revved up and 'ready for both seasons'

MINOT, N.D. () — North Dakota has experienced somewhat of a roller coaster in terms of winter temperatures this year, as we shift from the 50s one day to snow the next — but no matter what extreme the thermometer falls to, the city of Minot’s street crews are still making sure the roads are clear across town.

With winter being warm this year, Minot’s Street Superintendent Kevin Braaten says that workers haven’t had to do as much snow clearing as they normally do this season.

This, however, does not mean that they are not busy — and currently, they are focused on keeping the streets free of leaves.

“We do try to sweep when we can,” Braaten explained. “The main reason for sweeping some of the streets is to make roadways safer, but also to keep the sand out of our storm drains — which all eventually end up in the river.”

All winter long, the Magic City’s Street Department has done total seasonal rebuilds on their street sweepers — which ensures that they remain in good shape for the summer months.

As the weather has changed, the department switched focus from the sweepers to get all of the plowing equipment ready for when it will be needed.

“We’re ready for both seasons whenever they get here,” Braaten continued. “It’s challenging when we have a crew come in, and we don’t get the amount of snow expected, so we have to switch people’s schedules on a 24-48 hour notice. We are always watching the weather.”

Scheduling these street cleanings, Braaten claims, is the city’s biggest challenge.

Currently, the group is facing a winter with no snow on the ground. When the snow did blanket the city in the fall, many workers were placed on standby to help deal with the drifts.

“Everything is running pretty smoothly,” Minot’s Vehicle Maintenance Superintendent Brian Horinka stated. “We had one sander come in with a hydraulic leak. We’re getting that taken care of right now so we can get it back on the road. There’s always a little bit of welding that needs to be done here and there on some of the graders, and some of the gates that are used in the city streets. This weather is kind of tough on them, so usually during the shift changes, we’ll bring that equipment in and try to take care of any problems like that so they’re ready to go for the next person.”

From keeping the streets safe to keeping the equipment and vehicles in shape, Minot’s machine operators are constantly working on not missing a beat.

When equipment is not properly working, they bring it to the shop and fix whatever needs repairing as fast as possible.

“Our operators are responsible for each machine that they use,” Braaten stated, “They’re in charge of servicing and greasing each shift they are on, changing cutting edges when they wear out checking tire pressures, and just about everything else.”

City leaders say that keeping the roads safe is their biggest priority, and are currently placing a heavy focus on snow removal.

Next week, they expect to be ready for sweeping — that is, assuming Mother Nature chooses to cooperate.