What a crazy winter we’ve had so far. In 27 years of doing snow removal, I can’t remember one quite as dry as this one. Now we’ve all seen spring snowstorms that come out of the four corners and dump heavy wet snows, so for those of you hoping for moisture you could still get your wish.
This winter has been very good for our streets and budget. To date, we have used approximately 100 tons of salt. Coming into winter I had approximately 1,300 tons of salt on hand.
Winters with large amounts of snow and ice along with wide temperature swings are a recipe for tire-eating potholes. Moisture enters the roadway surface and freezes. This expansion creates potholes on the surface of the roadway. Repeated freezes and thaws create one of the harshest environments for a roadway surface.
With spring right around the corner, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss work the City Street Department has scheduled. In the summer of 2021, the City Street and Electric Departments removed the pedestrian bridge rails on the West Court Bridge. Existing rails were removed and replaced with decorative railings as well as decorative LED lighting. To a guy that remembers fishing on that bridge when he was 10 years old, this was a lot of fun to be a part of. We currently have plans to replace the existing pedestrian bridge railings on the South 6th Street Bridge with the same design of decorative railings and lights this fall.
This summer a contractor will be replacing a section of North 4th Street from Grant Street to Lincoln Street and a section of Lincoln Street from North 4th Street to North 5th Street. These streets are currently asphalt with a concrete curb. Due to the large traffic counts on these streets along with existing surface deterioration, it was decided best to replace the streets with concrete. As the curbing is already concrete and in above average condition just the roadway will be replaced.
Armor coating is a way to seal the surface of the roadway by applying a thin layer of emulsion oil and covering it with an aggregate. The aggregate is then rolled and pressed into the emulsion oil and allowed to cool. Many different types of aggregates can be used in this process. Armor coating streets is the most cost-effective form of surface preservation. This summer we will be armor coating a large number of asphalt streets between North 8th Street to North 16th Street and between Elk Street and Garfield Streets.
Street Department crews will also have a busy summer with such jobs as sweeping streets, replacing signs, mowing highways, trimming trees, spraying for mosquitos, and re-paining traffic lines, stalls, and crosswalks throughout the City. This summer also looks to be a busy one for replacing multiple concrete locations across the City as well as close to 400 tons of asphalt patching.
Every year since 1989 the City of Beatrice has had a Clean City Event. This year Clean City will be from May 9th through May 11th. This year we will continue to use the same pickup schedule that we have used over the last few years. A Clean City map can be seen below as well as on the Clean City Event webpage. Residents will still be required to register online, or by calling the City Office. This year there will be a change with the collection of mattresses. Approximately 5 years ago for the safety of employees, we stopped picking up mattresses. We provided a location for residents to drop off mattresses between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. We soon found this system was being abused by people from out of City limits, out of County, and out of State. To prevent City services from being abused, this year we are changing how mattresses are collected.
This year residents of Beatrice will be able to drop off their mattresses free of charge at the City of Beatrice Compost Site. The City Compost Site is located at 3426 West Locust Road, directly west of the Landfill.
Mattresses will be accepted Monday, 5/9/22 through Wednesday, 5/11/22 from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Compost attendants will check driver’s licenses for proof of Beatrice residency before mattresses can be accepted. Our compost site is being used instead of directly allowing access into the landfill to not interfere with landfill customers using the scale. Landfill and compost site cameras will also be in use to deter after-hours drop-offs. Digital message boards will be in place to assist with directions.
Jason Moore
Street Superintendent
