Anchorage’s aging snow clearing equipment likely won’t be replaced before winter

Snow plowers astatine Goose Lake parkland connected Wednesday, December 14, 2022. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)

Anchorage metropolis officials said nan attraction and operations section has a precocious number of aging snowfall clearing equipment, and apt won’t person nan chance to switch overmuch of it earlier winter. 

Anchorage Assembly members heard a presentation from metropolis leaders connected Friday, dealing pinch nan modulation reports from erstwhile politician Dave Bronson to existent politician Suzanne LaFrance. Chief Administrative Officer Bill Falsey said immoderate metropolis vehicles for hauling and clearing snowfall person a batch of years and miles connected them. 

“Some of this instrumentality is shockingly old,” Falsey said. “We person a boiler motortruck that was purchased successful 1986. Some of this instrumentality is shockingly used. We person (another) boiler motortruck that has a 3rd of a cardinal miles connected it. And it’s not alone.”

Anchorage has seen record-breaking snowfall nan past 2 years, starring to issues ranging from interruptions successful schoolhouse services and hazardous streets to caved-in roofs and ample snowfall berms shrinking roadworthy space. 

Falsey said clearing snowfall quickly and efficaciously is simply a apical privilege of nan LaFrance administration, and nan squad has been surveying nan attraction and operations section complete their equipment. For snowfall graders, Falsey said nan champion believe is to rebuild aliases switch an motor aft 10,000 hours of use. He says much than half of nan city’s graders are past that point. 

“That is not a problem that is going to beryllium easy to lick earlier nan snowfall flies this year,” Falsey said. “We said, ‘If we gave you a bunch of money now, could you bargain immoderate caller graders?’ They said they would not beryllium delivered successful clip for this winter.”

Falsey said nan management is moving to get nan city’s snowfall plow efforts arsenic staffed and prepared arsenic imaginable earlier nan first snowfall falls this winter. 

He said LaFrance officials are readying a follow-up gathering to coming imaginable solutions to nan Assembly connected issues laid retired successful nan modulation reports.