After days of below freezing weather, warmer temperatures are in the near future. But the anticipation of warmer weather has snow crews back on the streets.
"With all the near record snowfall that we've gotten so far this winter and the forecasted temperatures, we expect the snow to start melting along with the rain that's potentially forecasted this weekend," says assistant construction engineer, Bryan Manning.
But melting snow is the main problem as it needs somewhere to drain. And with all the heavy piles of snow plowed off Madison streets, many sewers are blocked leaving all the water with nowhere to go.
"We know where all the storm sewers are," says street superintendent, Al Schumacher. "It's just a matter of us finding them and scraping some of the ice away so the water can drain so the water can get to them."
Last year several Madison neighborhoods saw streets flooded as a result of melted snow and ice. Too much water could cause problems for cars driving down those streets. And while this occurrence happens in some capacity each year, area residents can help.
"If they know they have a storm sewer somewhere close just do a quick shovel job to try and create just a 6 inch area where the storm sewer, so water can get to the storm sewer. It'll save us the time from having to come over and do it."
Only 24 workers are scheduled to help remove the snow and ice from Madison streets. They will begin this process on Thursday before the rain and warmer temperatures are expected this Saturday.