A record-breaking snowfall of more than a foot on Dec. 14 meant long days for the city of Redmond’s snowplow drivers.

They started off working the city’s main arterials, like Veterans Way, Maple Avenue and Fifth and Sixth Streets, in 12 hour shifts initially spreading sand and then plowing once snow reached two inches. For the better part of two days, someone was plowing the streets 24 hours a day.

By the end of the week, they were clearing the last of the 320 lane miles the city maintains and going back to do some finishing touches in residential areas. The city’s five regular plow drivers were back to eight-hour shifts, still working as late as 10 p.m. Each driver is responsible for plowing a zone of the city.

“It’s pretty much an all-hands event during this type of storm,” said Bill Duerden, Redmond’s public works director.

Drivers can plow several hundred miles a night when covering main roads, where they don’t have to start and stop as much.

The job has been simplified some by GPS technology, which allows drivers to check a map on a large monitor to see which streets have been plowed and where the plows are located.

“The system even tells us whether the plow is down or the plow is up,” said third-year Redmond driver Anthony Ortgies. “I think it’s helped us out tremendously being able to tell where each person has been, especially on split shifts.”

While Redmond had a snowfall of more than two feet a couple years ago, he said last week’s storm was the most difficult to plow because temperatures remained well below freezing for days afterward. The snow began to melt within a couple days of the earlier storm, which helped clear the streets.

The snow that fell this week was lighter than some extremely wet varieties, which helped some with clearing it, Duerden said.

On Dec. 16, two days after the snow, drivers were still getting assigned to areas where residents said their streets hadn’t been plowed or that snow was still blocking access in places.

“We do our best not to block driveways,” Duerden said. “With limited options of where to place the snow, it’s an occurrence that’s going to happen.”

Because the large trucks can be a chore to turn around on tight streets, drivers try to make their rounds in a loop.

“It takes a country mile to turn these things around sometimes,” Ortgies said during a ride-along.

While they set out with areas they plan to hit, they know to expect plans to change. Within the first hour of his shift, Ortgies got several calls after residents complained about snow in their area. Drivers also listen to scanner traffic, which helps them get on a job right away when possible.

Most residents are thankful for the drivers, though they occasionally get someone chasing after the plow, cursing.

“You still make the majority of people really happy,” Ortgies said.

Drivers face several obstacles in clearing snow, with the the most common being parked cars. Ortgies said some of Redmond’s narrower roads barely allow for the plow to fit if cars are parked on both sides.

The city appreciates people shoveling snow off their sidewalks, but would prefer that they dispose of it on their own property, instead of throwing it in the street and causing more blockage, Ortgies said.

The plows are switched out in the summer. Some of the trucks spread water in road construction projects, while others haul magnesium chloride for dust control.

“Some of the other trucks go right into dump trucks after the winter’s over,” Ortgies said.

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com