Hot Topics

How Well Does Your City Plow Roads?

After a good snowfall, citizens always have something to say—good or bad—about the job the city and county does with plowing. So what do you think?

In the little town of Richfield, when two or more inches of snow falls the city's plows hit the roads. Or do they? While I was perusing the City of Richfield's Facebook page last week, I stumbled upon a lively comment accusing the city of a sub-par plowing performance. "Seriously if this is what the City calls cleaning up our streets they ought to be ashamed of themselves," the citizen wrote. See the full comment in the photo box above. This reminded me of a post I received on Richfield Patch's Facebook page Jan. 28. "Plows? No plows in site in our neighborhood," Derek Brown wrote. "I hope they come and cleanup the slush before tomorrow night or we will have several inches of ice!" I've personally never given much thought to this until now…

•  13 Comments
• Photos (2)

Snow Emergency Issued for Richfield

Crews are out plowing for a second time today.

A snow emergency was issued for Richfield just before 2 p.m. Sunday. Other cities such as Minneapolis, St. Paul, Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, St. Louis Park and Richfield's neighbor, Bloomington, issued snow emergencies much earlier in the day. Accoding to the City of Richfield website, Richfield doesn't have snow emergencies, but rather uses a snow parking ban ordinance from Nov. 1 through April 15 each season. However, with the major winter storm that rolled through overnight, Richfield Streets and Forestry Director Chris Link told Richfield Patch an emergency has been issued. "Vehicles must be removed from the street until they are plowed curb to curb," Link said in an e-mail to Patch. "City crews will be plowing the entire City, for a …

• Photos (1)

Weekend Snowfall Puts Richfield Winter Parking Ordinance in Full Effect

The first heavy snowfall of the season is coming this weekend.

With a winter storm warning in effect for much of Saturday and Sunday, Richfield Patch wanted to remind residents of the city's snow parking ban ordinance, which went into effect on Nov. 1. Up to six inches are predicted to fall in the Twin Cities area. If you want to avoid a ticket or your car being towed, here are a few things to know about Richfield's snow parking ban ordinance: In addition, Richfield Public Works says it is also illegal to place your trash carts and cans in the street, alley or on the sidewalk, as this also interferes with plowing initiatives. The ordinance is in effect until April 15. If you have questions or comments about the ordinance, call 612-861-9178 for recorded information, call 612-861-9170 for Richfield …

• Photos (1)

Richfield Snow Parking Ban Goes Into Effect Nov. 1

The ordinance will be in effect until April 15, 2013.

With snowflakes falling on Thursday afternoon, it's the perfect time to remind residents that Richfield's snow parking ban ordinance will go back into effect as of Nov. 1 and last until April 15, 2013. If you want to avoid a ticket or your car being towed, here are a few things to know about the ordinance: In addition, Richfield Public Works says it is also illegal to place your trash carts and cans in the street, alley or on the sidewalk, as this also interferes with plowing initiatives. If you have questions or comments about the ordinance, call 612-861-9178 for recorded information, call 612-861-9170 for Richfield Public Works or call 612-861-9800 for Richfield Public Safety.

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Richfield Public Works Planning Road Cleanup for Friday

Multiple snowfalls of low amounts, along with low temperatures makes it difficult for snow plow crews to clean up streets.

The multiple small amounts of snowfall over that past few days, combined with lower than average temperatures have created tough road conditions, according to Chris Link, director of the Streets and Forestry Department in Richfield Public Works. As a result, Richfield roads, especially neighborhood streets, have been a bit slippery and slushy, but Link anticipates getting crews out Friday to do a little clean up. "[Right now] we basically are dispatching trucks as needed; trying our best not to have our trucks on the road during rush hour traffic in the mornings and evenings," he said. "We have also been salting intersections as needed." Most of the attention has been on major roadways such as Lyndale Avenue and 76th and 77th Streets, but…

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)

Caitlin Burgess

9:17 am on Thursday, January 6, 2011

Hyperlink is fixed!   more ›

Richfield Aims to Reduce Salt on Roads, Toxic Runoff

With a grant from the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, Richfield snow plows will be fixed with new technologies that will help reduce the amount of salt put on icy roadways.

Richfield Public Works has begun reducing the amount of salt it uses to de-ice roads in preparation for next season when it will need to be down an estimated 60 percent from this year. The need to reduce the salt application comes after the September 2010 Chloride Total Maximum Daily Load Report, issued by the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District (NMCWD), showed too-high levels of chloride in creeks and lakes. Kevin Bigalke, administrator at NMCWD, said the levels in January through March are especially high and caused by runoff. If left unaddressed, excess chloride in would deteriorate the ecosystem, having negative effects on aquatic and terrestrial plant life, aquatic insects and fish, he said. In addition to Richfield, Edina, …

• Photos (5)