UPDATED: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 --- 8:00 p.m.
REPORTER: Chris Woodard

Tonight Madison Street Crews continue to work the roads battling gusting winds to clean things up before the morning commute.

The day's light fluffy snow is proving to be quite the double edged sword.

When it comes to winter storms beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder.

For some skiers using sales on Lake Monona gusting winds, near whiteout conditions and light fluffy snow is perfect.

But it can be a dangerous mix for others.

Late this afternoon one car ended up perched on the median at John Nolen Drive, not the only driver who's having problems today.

William Enders says, "I talked to my wife and she almost slid off the road earlier."

Light, fluffy snow is great for shoveling.

Enders says, "They started plowing our driveway so I figured it was about time to clear the sidewalk for the mail people."

But it's not so great for driving when you pair it with 20-plus mile per hour winds.

Madison Streets Superintendent Al Schumacher says, "Since the wind is going to be coming out of the north, we really have to focus our efforts. Be careful of east/west roads where the snow can drift over wherever there aren't buildings."

Throughout the city some roads were in great shape by early afternoon, others not so much.

But it's all by design. Street crews concentrated their efforts on main roads like East Wash, waiting until the storm slowed down to start attacking side streets.

In some neighborhoods a couple inches makes all the difference in the world from bare pavement in one spot, to a sloppy mess right around the corner.

Halfway through his drive home tonight David Sharp said, "So far it's a little slippery and because of the salting conditions you just have to go slower."

With this much snowing and blowing road crews can't be everywhere at once but once mother nature starts playing along, they'll get there.

Schumacher says, "Hopefully the commute tomorrow morning will be better"

The city did take some heat for their response to a big storm in December. This storm won't come close to causing the problems that one did but the streets department is trying some new things like adding more liquid to the salt, making it more effective in lower temperatures and pre-treating some of the roads.

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UPDATED: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 --- 4:30 p.m.

As we enter the evening rush hour Madison Street Crews continue to concentrate their work on the city's main roads.

Two unique challenges are making this storm a bit different. First of all the duration, it's been snowing almost nonstop since last night.

Secondly, this is a very light, fluffy snow and as the wind picks up this evening blowing, drifting and visibility will become a problem.

Madison Crews will begin working on side streets once the storm begins to wind down and at this point they are anticipating they'll begin on those roads around 10 o'clock tonight.

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UPDATED Tuesday, February 9, 2010 --- 10:30 a.m.

by Alan Schumacher, Streets Superintendent

The City of Madison has declared a snow emergency. That means that alternate side parking restrictions will be in effect throughout the entire City of Madison including the downtown/isthmus snow emergency zone.

Madison residents are asked to remove all vehicles from the street if possible. Residents who must park on the street this evening should park on the EVEN house numbered side of the street. Vehicles parked on the street Wednesday evening February 10th should be parked on the ODD house numbered side of the street. Violations of the alternate side parking rules are punishable by a fine of $60 throughout the entire City of Madison. Violators could also be towed.

Our latest forecast is calling for the snow to continue until late evening. We will be plowing all residential streets starting at 10:00 pm this evening. With City crews and the contracted pieces of equipment, there will be about 175 plow units on the street plowing the 766 miles and 1708 lane miles of City streets. We hope to have all streets plowed by Wednesday morning.

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UPDATED Tuesday, February 9, 2010 --- 6:10 a.m.

by Alan Schumacher, Streets Superintendent
posted February 9, 2010 6:03 AM

This is a very light, dry and powdery type of snow, which is very easy to plow off and shovel. Our concerns for this storm are twofold. One is the duration of the storm with snow continuing up to and after midnight tonight and the second is the increasing winds of later this morning, during the afternoon and during the night tonight. The storms duration will mean snow accumulations will rise to about the 7" - 8" range before the storm is all done and the winds will blow the light and fluffy snow around causing additional problems especially in the outlying areas of the City.

The good news is that we have good salting temperatures. Plow and salting crews have been out since the snow began falling last evening. We have been focusing on the 30 salt routes, which incorporate the main arterials, main connector streets, Madison Metro Bus Routes and streets around schools and the hospitals. The morning's commute will be slow as the streets are snow covered. Even though crews have been plowing and salting, the continued snowfall is covering over the work of the crews. Expect the afternoon commute to be slow as well as by that time there could be as much as 6" of snow on the ground

We will have at least 2 plows on every one of the 30 salt routes during the day today in an effort to keep the main arterials plowed and replowed so that traffic can continue to move throughout the day. We will have between 60 and 70 units assigned to plowing during the day today not counting what the Engineering Division and Parks Division has scheduled to plow the bike paths and sidewalks.

As is policy, very little attention is being focused on the residential streets while it is still snowing. Our current plan, if the forecasts hold true, is to begin plowing all residential streets as the snow begins to come to an end later this evening. At this time, we are planning on plowing all residential streets at about 10:00 pm this evening and expect to have the City entirely plowed by Wednesday mornings commute.

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UPDATED Monday, February 8, 2010---- 9:00 p.m.
By:Barclay Pollak

Odds are if you have to hop on the beltline or take one of the other main streets to work tomorrow, you should have pretty smooth sailing. The only trouble you're likely to have is pulling out of your driveway and getting to one of those main roads.

That's because the City of Madison doesn't plow residential streets or side streets until there is at least three inches of snow on the ground. And according to the city's Streets Division that's about what they're expecting overnight.

Mother nature may not agree with that prediction and we might get more. If that is the case, the city will call in its contractors to get the roads clear. But even then, they won't start tackling the side streets until the snow is just about done.

So be careful when you head off to work tomorrow.

Donna Grossman with the Streets Division says, " Now, our trucks will be out and we'll have material down but that doesn't mean that everything is plowed off curb to curb. Especially if the snow continues to fall."

The city will have 16 trucks on both the city's west and east sides.

Some crews are already in place waiting for the snow to really start so they can begin their routes; others are just standing by. The city is also expecting the snow to be lighter and fluffier. That's going to make it easier to move and hopefully they'll be able to get their job done quicker.

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UPDATED Monday, February 8, 2010 --- 7:45 a.m.

From the City of Madison website:

PLOWING UPDATE from Alan Schumacher, Streets Superintendent:
Posted February 8, 2010 7:40 AM

Our forecasts are calling for snow to redevelop this afternoon and then continue for about 36 hours. It will be a dry, powdery type of snow, much different than the snow that fell during the December 8th blizzard. Total accumulations by the time it ends late Tuesday are forecast to be between 6" to 8" in the City of Madison. We will be able to apply salt and salt brine throughout the duration of this storm and after this storm as temperatures are expected to remain above 15 degrees F. Some sunshine is also forecast for later in the week, which will assist in helping the salt work to melt the snow and ice on the main streets.

As the snow falls, crews will focus on the main arterials, main connector, Madison Metro Bus Routes and streets around our hospitals. Plows will continue to plow these main streets over and over during the duration of the storm in an effort to keep traffic moving. We are not expecting to have clear pavement but continued plowing efforts on the main arterials should allow traffic to be able to maneuver, even though it will be a slower than usual commute.

At this time, we are not anticipating plowing the residential streets until the snow has stopped accumulating or has just about stopped accumulating. We are expecting to plow all residential streets either later on Tuesday or early Wednesday. When we plow the residential streets, we will schedule about 175 pieces of equipment in order to plow the 766 miles or 1708 lane miles of City streets.

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