Public Works reports major snow event response: crews logged 860 man-hours, 4,000 lane miles addressed

Public Works Director Cecil Wybel briefed the Hutchinson City Council on Jan. 7 about the city's response to the winter storm that began on Jan. 4. Wybel said crews logged approximately 860 man-hours in pretreating and snow removal, used 34,000 gallons of salt brine and spread about 349 tons of salt across the city.

Wybel said the city deployed 13 plow trucks (eight tandem dump trucks with plows and spreaders, four new plow trucks and one smaller truck) and reported that crews treated or plowed roughly 4,000 lane miles during the event. He noted residential streets were pretreated and that crews continued clearing piles from central routes; a crew remained on Main Street into the evening to finish remaining work.

Councilmembers praised crews for the response and asked about traffic-signal camera recall procedures, loop detectors and microwave camera installations. Wybel explained the newer fisheye cameras required less manual recall because the lens points down and uses a different heating system; the city is testing several newer cameras at key intersections.

Wybel said the city is evaluating further equipment and tactics—such as tandem truck operations and wider plow wings—to improve efficiency and reduce overall truck-hours in future events. Councilmembers asked how citizens should report stalled or abandoned vehicles during storm cleanup; Wybel recommended using the city's ClickFix system to notify crews and police.

The council thanked staff for the response and the multi-department coordination during the storm.