Champaign and Urbana Public Works prepare for winter

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - The first snowfall of the season is here and the City of Champaign Public Works department is aiming to keep the streets safe.

“We have a weather service and if they’re saying something is going to happen, we try to be proactive about that. I’ll schedule a crew in based on the forecast so we’re here to deal with it as it comes,”  said Operations Manager, Cory Conrad.

Conrad also said that drivers should pay extra attention while driving in snow. Workers are out cleaning snow from the roads and need room to do their work.

“You see equipment out there fighting snow, there’s a lot of lights blinking on it. The reason for that is to kind of let you know we’re out there and to give room,” explained Conrad.

The City of Urbana Public Works department is also preparing for the winter ahead. Deputy Director for Operations, Vince Gustafson said they have plenty of salt prepared.

“We have reserved salt from last year that will accommodate us through the first few events and I have an order I’ll be putting in the next few weeks where we’ll be having the remaining balance of our salt delivered here so we’ll be fully prepared for the full Winter season,” said Gustafson.