Milwaukee DPW outlines limits, priorities and new tech after early December storm

Danielle Rodriguez, director of operations for the Department of Public Works, told the Public Works Committee on Dec. 1 that the department treats "Priority 1" as keeping main arterials and transit routes open to preserve emergency access and bus service. "So our priority 1 is opening up those mass transit routes that includes arterials or main streets," Rodriguez said in presenting the department's service-level framework.

Rodriguez described a layered response: pretreatment with brine, general ice control using sensor (salt) trucks, partial plowing with underbelly blades for light accumulations, and a full plow operation that brings packer (garbage) trucks into service for heavier storms. She said the department deploys an "A team" and "B team" on 12-hour shifts and that a full operation can involve 250 to 300 employees plus private contractors.

The presentation included budgets and operational tradeoffs. "I believe just a 3 or 4 block snow removal effort cost over $1,000,000," Rodriguez said, citing recent costs for contracted removal when plowed snow must be physically hauled away. Rodriguez added that removal is used sparingly for public-safety reasons because of that cost.

Council members pressed the department on several recurring complaints: alley plowing, the effect of leaf-collection timing, bus-stop access, sidewalk clearing, enforcement of parking rules during snow emergencies, and employee safety and fatigue. DPW acknowledged a roughly 16% vacancy rate for equipment operators and said sensors (salt trucks) are on a 13-year replacement cycle (the oldest from 2009) while packers are on a 15-year replacement cycle with the oldest now about 23.5 years old.

On accessibility, Rodriguez said the department prioritizes wheelchair access when locating or moving bus stops: "The first priority is always access for persons with disabilities," she said, while noting that in some locations no preexisting concrete pad existed and curb cuts would require more time and money. DPW staff also described a program to install cameras and a map-based tracking system (a pilot of camera/GPS technology) that was used in this operation and will be shown to alderpersons at a rollout meeting the next day.

On enforcement and parking, Parking Services Manager Peter Knox reported that the city had issued thousands of citations during the emergency and was piloting district-level relocation zones so towed vehicles could be moved locally instead of to a centralized lot. Knox said the city issued about 5,900 citations as of the report and had begun towing prioritized vehicles that were not moved 24–48 hours after notice.

Aldermen discussed options for long-term changes, including whether to expand snow removal or make it a paid, optional service for neighborhoods; DPW said it could cost many millions to adopt Montreal-style curb-to-curb removal citywide and recommended presenting options with cost estimates to the council for policy decisions. Rodriguez and DPW managers offered to provide updated alley-plowing pilot cost estimates and a post-storm report on equipment outages, GPS/camera performance and after-action lessons. The committee agreed to receive the file and place it on file for follow-up.

What happens next: DPW will share the updated alley-plowing pilot estimate on current dollars, continue the camera/GPS pilot and present a post-storm debrief in the coming week. The department also said a revised "snow and ice" pamphlet and website materials would be distributed to alder offices and mailed to households as outreach before further storms.