Murfreesboro ready to tackle winter ice and snow

The City of Murfreesboro is stocked and ready to clear streets of ice and snow during the 2018-19 winter weather season. The City Street Department currently has a total stockpile of 1,200 tons of salt and have readied snow plows and trucks for the winter season.

Preparing for winter weather begins long before any ice or snow hits the ground. The snow removal program is set up on a series of routes – six total routes assigned to six trucks. State routes and major City streets get priority. The Street Department also treats critical areas like St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital on Medical Center Pkwy., steep grades, and other problem areas that require attention.

Subdivision City streets are typically not salted or plowed due to limited equipment and personnel resources as crews focus on primary thoroughfares.

The City Street Department provides ice and snow removal on State Routes within City limits under contract to TDOT. If motorists see hazardous street conditions that need attention, please call 615-893-4380.

A salt brine system first used in 2017 is also ready to pretreat City streets. Two trucks, a brine-making and brine delivery system, will apply brine prior to snowfall, which is more effective than rock salt because brine starts working immediately.

“The City of Murfreesboro Street Department takes a proactive approach by applying salt brine to the roads before ice and snow begins hitting the roadway,” said Street Department Director Raymond Hillis. “In the past, the City of Murfreesboro only used salt to clear the roads.”

The City has 55 employees trained in snow and ice removal. They are ready to mobilize when winter weather hits the City. Clearing City streets as quickly as possible is essential in 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 Department, 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 Public Works Facility located at 4765 Florence and at the Public Works Facility 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 2018-19 winter weather budget is approximately $100,000 and includes salt, overtime for employees, and equipment maintenance. Salt is applied to City 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).