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WEBVTT SEAN: A GARBAGE TRUCK CRAWL DOWN 9TH STREET, SQUEEZING IN BETWEEN CARS AND SNOW. COLLECTORS ARE EVEN HELPING DRIVERS MANUEVER OUT. AS THE TRUCK KEEPS GOING, IT EVENTUALLY CAN’T GET THROUG THIS BEGS THE QUESTION, WOULD A SNOW EMERGENCY DECLARATION PREVENT A SITUATION LIKE THIS? BASED ON OUR CALCULATIONS AND THE WAY THE OPERATION WOULD HAVE GONE, WOULD’VE ESSENTIALLY DELAYED THE OPERATIONS 12 HOURS OR MORE, AND THAT JUST GETS US INTO A LEVEL OF SERVICE THAT WE’RE NOT REALLY PREPARED TO ACCEPT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF GETTING THE JOB DONE. SEAN STREET MAINTENANCE ENGINEER AUSTIN ROWSER SAID THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN A GOOD CAL THIS TRUCK HAS TO BACK ALL THE WAY UP. ROWSER SAYS EVEN WITH A DECLARATION, IT STILL WOULDN’T BE A PERFECT SOLUTION. >> THE THING WE’VE ALWAYS SEEN WITH SNOW EMERGENCIES IN THE PAST IS THAT THERE’S NOT A LOT OF COMPLIANC EITHER WE’RE NOT GETTING THE CARS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE STREET, WE’RE NOT GETTING THEM SWITCHED OVER WHEN THE CLOCK SWITCHES TO MIDNIGHT. THOSE KINDS OF THINGS, WE TAKE INTO ACCOUNT. SEAN: ROWSER SAYS WITH THESE INSTANCES, THOUGH, THE CITY NEEDS TO BE MADE AWARE. >> THIS IS THE FIRST I’VE HEARD OF IT, BUT IN THAT PARTICULAR CASE, MY HOPE WOULD BE THAT THAT WOULD BE COMMUNICATED BACK TO US AND WE CAN GO AND LEND THEM SOME ASSISTANCE WITH WASTE MANAGEMENT AND THEIR PICK UP. SEAN: CITY CREWS ARE CONTINUING WITH THEIR EXISTING SNOW REMOVAL OPERATION WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW FORECAST THIS WEEKEND. >> PILING THE SNOW UP, KIND OF MAKING A PSEUDO-MEDIAN ON THE STREET, I THOUGHT WAS A PRETTY GOOD WAY OF HANDLING THE SNOW WITHOUT PUSHING EVERYTHING OUT ON THE SIDEWALKS AND EVERYTHING. SEAN: -- >> THE DOWNTOWN WINDROWS THAT WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET, THAT WAS ALL CLEANED UP THIS MORNING. CREWS MADE REALLY GOOD TIME ON THAT. ALEXANDRA: WEATHER NOW METEOROLOGIST SEAN EVERSON IS LIVE FOR US TONIGHT. SEAN, WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR THE CITY TO DECLARE A SNOW EMERGENCY? SEAN: FIRST OFF, BY ORDINANCE, THE MAYOR IS THE ONE TO DECLARE A SNOW EMERGENCY. AUSTIN ROWSER TELLS ME THERE ARE CERTAIN FACTORS THOSE INCLUDE -- THAT INCLUDE SNOWFALL RATES OF MORE THAN 1 INCH PER HOUR, HIGH WINDS AND EXTREME COL BASICALLY, WHEN WE GO FROM NORMAL WINTER CONDITIONS TO EXTREME WINTER CONDITIONS. ALEXAN

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A garbage truck crawled down Ninth street Wednesday morning, squeezing in between cars and snow. Collectors even helped other drivers maneuver out.As the truck kept going, it eventually couldn't get through. That begs the question, would a snow emergency declaration prevent a situation like this?Street maintenance engineer Austin Rowser said that would not have been a good call."Based on our calculations and the way the operation would have gone, (it) would've essentially delayed the operations 12 hours or more, and that just gets us into a level of service that we're not really prepared to accept from the standpoint of getting the job done," Rowser said.The truck had to back all the way up to get out. Rowser said even with a declaration, it still wouldn't be a perfect solution and with these instances, the city needs to be made aware. "The thing we've always seen with snow emergencies in the past is that there's not a lot of compliance it. Either we're not getting the cars on the right side of the street, we're not getting them switched over when the clock switches to midnight. Those kinds of things, we take into account," Rowser said. "This is the first I've heard of it, but in that particular case, my hope would be that that would be communicated back to us and we can go and lend them some assistance with Waste Management and their pickup." City crews are continuing with their existing snow removal operation with another round of snow forecast this weekend."Piling the snow up, kind of making a pseudo-median on the street, I thought was a pretty good way of handling the snow without pushing everything out on the sidewalks and everything," said driver Lee Venable."The downtown windrows that were in the middle of the street, that was all cleaned up this morning. Crews made really good time on that," Rowser said.By ordinance, the mayor is the one to declare a snow emergency. Rowser added that there are certain factors, including snowfall rates of more than 1 inch per hour, high winds and extreme cold, when we go from normal winter conditions to extreme winter conditions.