What to 'Snow' Before You Go

Here’s the scene: It’s 6:13 a.m. and you just pulled onto Church Ranch Boulevard. Snow is falling on your windshield, and you can’t quite figure out how fast you want your wipers to run. Too fast and it’s annoying; too slow and it doesn't make a bit of difference. You can’t concentrate on the wiper speed — you need to focus on the road. Visibility is limited, so you clutch the steering wheel until your knuckles turn white.

Then, you glance in your rearview mirror and relax a little because help is on the way. Those flashing blue lights belong to a trusty City snowplow. But do those flashing lights mean you need to immediately pull over and stop? Or are you supposed to change lanes? Maybe speed up or slow down and hope it passes you?

First, remember that the snowplow driver is a friend to us all, and they don’t want to add any more stress to your busy day. Interim Street Operations Superintendent Brock Hufford says the flashing lights are for everyone’s safety. If you see the blue lights coming up behind you, then you have two options, depending on the road conditions. If you feel safe, then you can continue driving ahead of the plow. But, if you feel the conditions are too hazardous, then you can pull over and let the snowplow pass. After the plow passes, you can follow behind it, driving on freshly cleared roads.

Approaching a snowplow doesn’t have to be a game of chance. Before you head out, you can visit our new snowplow tracker on your phone, tablet, or computer to see where our snowplows are currently located. Each City snowplow is outfitted with a GPS device that sends live information to the map, so you can see if the route you're planning to take has been plowed.

This nifty map does more than just track the large snowplows that clear our primary streets. If it snows more than eight inches and the City deploys smaller plow trucks into residential areas, then the map will track those trucks as well. You can visit the map by clicking here.

If you have a question about snowplows or our new snowplow tracker, please call the Streets Division at 303-658-2501.

Snowplow Safety Reminders:

1. Slow down. Snowplows make wide turns, frequent stops, and often need more than one lane. Pass on the left but only if you need to. Do not pass a snowplow on the right. The plows leave piles of discarded snow on their right side.
2. Give them plenty of room. If you find yourself behind a snowplow, please leave four to five car lengths of space for the snowplow. Westminster’s snowplows often spread granular deicer. If you get too close to the snowplow, the granules could scratch your paint.

Snowplow Tracker