City of South Lake Tahoe snow blowing operation schedule

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The City of South Lake Tahoe's snowplow drivers have been working 24/7 since the Christmas storm to remove snow from the city's roadways. The City has now shifted from snow plowing to snow blowing operations and they'll be working to reduce berms and widen the roadways as practical.

Plowing operations utilize a grader or loader and the snow is pushed to the sides of the road. With heavy snow accumulation as experienced at Christmas, this may take several passes to complete prior to snow blowing operations starting. As a result, the roads become narrower and can be reduced to one lane.

Once this process is completed, snow blowing can be started. The snowblower can widen the roads via a rotary system that pulls the stored snow from the sides of the roads (snowbank) and spreads it out via a chute into an open area.

Due to the heavy snow accumulation over the past several weeks, there will continue to be snow storage on all roadways. The schedule provided for the week of January 3 can change due to unforeseen circumstances.

• As of Monday, January 3, snow-blowing operations began in Bijou and will continue through the week of January 10.

• As of Tuesday, January 4, snow-blowing operations began in the Keys, Gardner Mountain, and Stateline area. We anticipate that all these areas will also be completed during the week of January 10.

• As of Wednesday, January 5, snow-blowing operations began in the Heavenly pattern and will continue through the week of January 10.

The City will keep the public notified of any changes or updates to this schedule via social media (Twitter and Facebook). They keep the public updated with the latest information on snowplow operations and road conditions on these two sites.

The City will continue the snow-blowing operation until all roadways are treated. They are also conducting sanding operations where there is ice.