City of Murfreesboro Prepared to Handle Winter Ice and Snow

Preparing for winter weather begins long before any ice or snow hits the ground. The City of Murfreesboro is stocked and ready to clear streets of ice and snow during the winter weather season. The City Street Division currently has a total stockpile of 1,200 tons of salt and have readied snow plows and trucks for the winter season.

A new salt brine system is also ready to pretreat streets. Two trucks, a brine-making and brine delivery system, were purchased to apply brine prior to snowfall, which is more effective than rock salt because brine can start working immediately.

“In the past, the City of Murfreesboro has only used salt to clear the roads,” said Streets Division Director Raymond Hillis. “The Streets Division is now taking a proactive approach by applying salt brine to the roads before ice and snow begins hitting the roadway.”

“We have 35 employees who are trained in snow and ice removal. They are ready to mobilize when winter weather hits the City,” added Hillis. “Clearing our streets as quickly as possible is essential in our efforts to keep motorists’ safe and keep traffic moving.”

During periods of ice and snowstorms, six dump trucks equipped with snow plows and salt spreaders are used to clear the roads. The Street Division, which is responsible for keeping City Streets clear of ice and snow, maintains a materials storage yard with a stockpile of salt each year.

Salt is maintained at the City’s Solid Waste facility located at 4765 Florence and at the Street Division on West Main Street. For brine, the salt is added to a bin where water is mixed in and the rock salt slowly liquefies. The City’s brine system can produce up to 200 gallons of brine per minute or 12,000 gallons an hour. Once the brine is properly mixed, it is transferred to a 10,000-gallon brine tank to be stored. The combination of brine and rock salt applied to streets performs more effectively than salt alone.

The City’s 2017-18 winter weather budget is approximately $100,000 and includes salt, overtime for employees, and equipment maintenance. Salt is applied to streets once snow has started to accumulate.

If you are involved in a vehicle minor crash without injuries, the Murfreesboro Police Department asks you to move your vehicle out of the roadway, if possible, to avoid secondary crashes. The non-emergency number for the MPD is 615-893-1311.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is responsible for maintaining and clearing interstates and state routes, including I-24 and I-840 in Rutherford County. Travelers can also access TN-511 for travel information by dialing from any landline or cellular phone or following 511 on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TN511 (statewide) or www.twitter.com/Nashville511 (Nashville area).

For more information on TDOT’s “Winter Weather Tips and Travel Information,” visit http://www.tn.gov/tdot/topic/ice-snow.

Watch a YouTube video on the City’s new Brine System at https://youtu.be/hmK_HoBKylM. For information on the Murfreesboro Streets Division, contact Superintendent Raymond Hillis at 615-893-4380 or [email protected].

For City News online, visit www.Murfreesborotn.gov.