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Winter Safety in West Jordan

Dec 08, 2015 09:19AM ● By Taylor Stevens

By Taylor Stevens

West Jordan - As many West Jordan residents prepare for the holiday season, the West Jordan Public Works Department is preparing for the cold weather as well. It helps to prepare plans for snowplowing and winter safety early, particularly in a city as large as West Jordan. 

“It’s a huge city,” Tim Peters, West Jordan public services manager, said. “At last count, we had something like 855 lane miles—and that doesn’t include lane miles that have been added this last year, such as subdivisions and 5600 West.” 

Peters said there are simple steps residents can take to increase public safety for all West Jordan residents and employees this winter. 

Most important among these is “having cars removed from the street,” Peters said. “There should be absolutely no street parking during storms if people want the streets cleared.”

West Jordan Police have issued warnings and tickets to cars parked on the street in the past, so it’s in the best interest of both residents’ safety and wallets to move their cars. 

“There’s some streets that are so narrow, and you’re talking the worst possible conditions—ice at night when there’s already low visibility,” Peters said. “If you have cars on both sides of the street that are narrow to begin with, it’s such a hazard that quite honestly if our trucks can’t get down there they’re not going to. The last thing we want to do is take off the side of someone’s car.” 

Peters said residents should also be conscious of basketball hoops in the public right-of-way, as well as low-hanging tree limbs—both of which can get caught on a snow plow and cause major damage if hit. 

West Jordan staff sometimes work up to 12-hour shifts late into the night to clear the roads and subdivisions of same-day snowfall—a change the city made a few years ago from a policy of plowing streets the first day of a snowfall and subdivisions the next day. 

Finally, Peters said that residents should check the weather forecast frequently during the winter months and prepare for their morning commute accordingly. 

“You’re more likely to arrive safely and in a more calm manner if you plan accordingly and double your commute time,” Peters said.