As Winter Weather Arrives, Sevierville Has a Plan

Posted 11-29-23.

Whenever weather forecasts indicate the possibility of a snow or ice event, the Sevierville Public Works Department staff continuously monitors roadway conditions and weather forecasts and is ready to do their best to keep your City roads clear and usable. To complete this often arduous task, the City has a winter weather plan in place and ready for activation when needed.

Pretreatment of roadways with salt brine.
When conditions are favorable prior to a forecasted snow/ice event, salt brine is often used to pretreat roadways. Salt brine is a liquefied mixture of salt and water. The City uses several trucks outfitted with large tanks (500 or 1,500 gallons) to spread the salt brine before the snow and/or ice is falling. The salt brine will dry and adhere to the road surface and prevent the snow and ice from initially bonding to pavements. During pre-treatment operations, motorists should use caution and stay a safe distance from pre-treatment vehicles.

Treatment of snow covered roadways: rock salt and plowing.
During and after snow events (if temperatures cooperate), standard rock salt (sodium chloride) is loaded in spreaders and snowplows are outfitted to trucks. During particularly cold events the salt is combined with liquid calcium chloride. This additive produces an exothermic chemical reaction and improves melting action during very cold weather. This year, the City has approximately 600 tons of rock salt stored for the winter, which is somewhat more than is typically used in an average winter. Motorists should be mindful and “don’t crowd the plow” when salting and plowing operations are occurring, as these large vehicles are usually spreading rock salt, can produce clouds of snow, and cannot maneuver quickly - especially in winter weather conditions.

Roadway treatment schedule.
Roadways are treated according to a predetermined priority schedule based upon several factors.
1. Amount of Traffic.
2. Roads with State or national significance.
3. Roads that provide access to essential services.

Based upon these factors, priority roads in the City are:
State Route 66 (Winfield Dunn Parkway)
State Route 71 (US Highway 441, Parkway, and Forks of the River Parkway)
State Route 448 (North Parkway)
State Route 35 (US Highway 411/441, Main Street/Dolly Parton Parkway/Chapman Highway)
State Route 449 (Veterans Boulevard)
State Route 416 (Pittman Center Road/Old Newport Highway)
State Route 139 (Douglas Dam Road)
State Route 338 (Douglas Dam Road/Boyd’s Creek Highway)
Collier Drive
Park Road
Middle Creek Road (the section nearest the hospital)
Robert Henderson Road and Catlett Road (access to the Public Works Department)
Gary Wade Boulevard
Bruce Street
Prince Street (Fire Hall section).

Who clears sidewalks?
Citizens are encouraged to clear sidewalks in front of their homes or businesses, but please do not push snow into the street. The City generally does not clear sidewalks, so that we can concentrate limited resources on roadways.

Who is responsible for clearing driveway aprons?
Property owners or residents are responsible for clearing their driveway entrance/exit. Please remember, we will continue to plow snow until the street is clear or safe for motorists. We realize that this can be frustrating to the resident; however, we simply do not have the resources to clear thousands of driveway aprons.

For additional snow fighting plan information, please visit http://seviervilletn.org/index.php/streets/214-snow-fighting-plan.html.