Plowing Through: Designing Roads for Winter Maintenance Success

Snowplows–they’re as much a staple of Midwestern winters as the snow they clear, making their annual re-emergence a seasonal tradition that Kapur staff account for when designing infrastructure.

With a combined 50+ years of experience between them, three of our most knowledgeable engineers–each with a different perspective–shared their approach to creating transportation networks that accommodate required winter maintenance.

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Nick Bobinski – Senior Project Engineer (Roadway Design)

In urban areas, terraces ranging from 3 to 5 feet in width help provide storage for snow. With emerging concepts, including separated bike lanes, winter maintenance is always a consideration. We’re always asking–how will it be possible to manage snow? Some municipalities have specialized equipment, others don’t, so when we begin working with a community, that’s an important element for us to know. In rural areas, snow drifting can be an issue. Maintenance crews sometimes install snow fencing in areas that are prone to drifting. WisDOT has also implemented “living snow fences” in some areas, particularly along freeways, placing plantings that act as a wind break to keep snow from drifting onto the highway and eliminating the need for crews to install and remove temporary fences.

Neal Styka – Project Engineer (Traffic Design)

As it pertains to intersections, we always consider truck movements, which ensures that snowplows can easily navigate through. One key design element to keep in mind is the drainage, to prevent ponding and icing in intersections. The same goes for pedestrian curb ramps. We can strategically place inlets just upstream of intersections and curb ramps, and make sure there is enough slope to prevent ponding and icing. Maintaining pedestrian access to curb ramps and bus stops can be tricky for maintenance crews, though, regardless of our design. Stricter PROWAG and ADA guidelines requiring the pedestrian push button to be adjacent to the curb ramp will help ensure that when the curb ramp area is cleared, the push button will also be accessible instead of the button being placed sometimes as far as 5 feet away in an area that snow would get piled up in.

Signals are designed so that there are no underground splices that could be damaged by melting snow. Signal poles are placed far enough behind the curb that a snowplow and its mirrors won’t be hit. Vehicle detection at intersections in snow conditions can be challenging with video vehicle detection. Manufacturers have addressed this issue by adding radar into the vehicle detection system. Snow accumulation was a concern when LED signal heads were first developed because they produced less heat than incandescent signals. Now signal manufacturers have added heaters and visors that can help melt and prevent as much snow from getting onto the signal in the first place.

Shannon Connolly – Project Engineer (Structural Design)

When it comes to bridges, the main thing that comes to mind is to avoid low points, which is another drainage element to consider like the ponding/icing of an intersection. They are already designed for vehicle loading larger than a snowplow, so what we really focus on is trying to ensure that skewed joints on the bridges are different than the typical angle of a snowplow blade so that it doesn’t get caught in a joint. Then there’s the snow ramping issue–solid concrete bridge parapets, or railings, prevent snow from being pushed onto a roadway below, but if left alone can turn solid and act almost like a ramp for errant vehicles to go over. Again, we’ll design the drainage as best we can to prevent that, but we rely mostly on maintenance crews for the prevention of that. As Nick mentioned, knowing the specialized equipment a municipality may have–even for pedestrian bridges–can be vital information for us to plan for these vehicles to do what they’re built for.

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No matter the season, Kapur strives to keep communities connected. Still, our ability to create snowplow-friendly infrastructure is a testament to the ingenuity of our staff, a group proud to do their part to ensure winter roadways remain functional and safe.