The City of Manhattan Public Works Department said the Public Works Department has finished compiling statistics for last month’s Snow Blitz effort. As a reminder, Manhattan received 15+ inches of snow in Winter Storm Blair and the City spent the first two weeks (January 4-13) working on main streets.This period included snow plowing and removal efforts in Aggieville, downtown, and on major arterials and collectors by Public Works and contractors, as well as an initial pass through residential neighborhoods to open up at least 1 lane.
The actual Snow Blitz took place January 14-17, with the City, two construction companies, and two landscaping companies each focusing on one of five sections. The focus was on widening initial paths to at least 20 feet wide, as well as clearing key intersections, ADA sidewalk ramps, and blind spots.In all, the City and its partners removed 2,605 truck loads of snow in January, or about 850,000 cubic feet, which took 4,308 total labor hours across 12 days.
850,000 cubic feet of snow would fill up City Park Pool approximately 9 1/2 times or fill Kansas State University’s Bill Snyder Family Stadium to a depth of 8 feet!• Without the help of local contractors, this amount of snow would have taken City crews at least 18 days to accomplish using 24-hour operations, 5 days a week. At normal 8-hour operations, 5 days a week, it would have taken 27 days, or until last Thursday, February 13.
The City thanked thanked Midwest Concrete Materials, Bayer Construction/Larson Construction, Blueville Nursery Inc., Garibay Lawn Care and Landscaping, Taussig Landscape, and PrairieStone for their help along with City staff in the Public Works, Public Utilities, Manhattan Fire Department, and Manhattan Parks and Recreation departments who contributed to snow removal from streets, sidewalks, ramps, and facilities through two storms now, with a third on the way this week.