‘We’re chasing our tails’: State and city plow drivers face special challenges to keep Juneau moving
- Natalie Buttner
- 22 hours ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 30 minutes ago
After working long days during winter storms, disaster declaration grants city additional support to clear storm drains ahead of heavy rain
By Natalie Buttner
Juneau Independent
City and state equipment operators have worked long hours to keep streets clear. As a flood watch looms in this week's forecast, equipment operators remind drivers and pedestrians to continue exercising caution as winter has just begun.
On Friday morning, Randal Jim, an employee for the City and Borough of Juneau's streets department, was driving a small Bobcat plow on Front Street.
“They call us the sidewalk crew,” Jim said. “We're for the people.”
Snow removal is a collaborative effort between the “sidewalk crew” and the operators plowing the streets, but with record-breaking amounts of snow and limited space to put it, a clear street can seem unattainable.
“We work against each other sometimes, because they plow the roads, get it on the sidewalk, I got to plow the sidewalk, push it back over, and then it's never ending,” Jim said. “I'm not having a day off anytime soon. I know that.”
Jim said the amount of snow Juneau has received over a short period of time poses special challenges for maintenance of downtown streets. For example, he said, it was too cold to use rock salt, because the melted ice would simply refreeze. Jim also said that his typical route has been interrupted when he needs to help others navigate the snowy streets.
“Equipment breaks down, people get stuck, and then we got to stop what we're doing,” Jim said.
Jim and his Bobcat are one in a fleet of city equipment being used to clear the streets of record-breaking snow. According to CBJ Communications and Engagement Director Ashley Heimbigner, the city used 24 pieces of equipment, including loaders with pull blades and blowers, motor graders, plows, trackless blowers, and mini loaders.
According to City Manager Katie Koester, the Assembly has not made cuts to the street maintenance budget. In an email to the Independent, she wrote, “In fact, about 3 years ago they increased the budget with additional laborers and temporary equipment operators that has helped tremendously.”
CBJ moves snow to Glacier Spur Road on U.S. Forest Service land, the South Lemon Creek Gravel pit, and Savikko Park in Douglas. Additionally, CBJ was granted Emergency Snow Disposal Authorization from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation last week, allowing snow to be dumped into the Gastineau Channel.
In addition to city vehicles, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities clears snow on many of Juneau’s major roads. Both CBJ and DOT plow based on priority maps. Both the CBJ priority map and DOT priority map factor volume and importance for safety to divide roads into priority levels.
“We're chasing our tails,” Jim said. “As soon as we get done plowing a spot, the state will come through and do their plow, and then we got to go back and redo it, because they just put another berm in front of the crosswalks.”
Linda Palmer has been a DOT equipment operator for almost six years. Like Jim, she said this season she has been working unusually long shifts to keep up with the snow.
“I've been working 12- to 14-hour days, seven days a week,” she said in an interview on Thursday. “Pretty much every single operator has been working similar hours.”
Mostly operating a grader, Palmer said that the two main challenges as snowfall persists have been navigating traffic in low visibility conditions and the quantity of snow.
“You go do your whole route, and then you come back and there's like a foot of snow there again, or like six inches of snow,” Palmer said. “So just trying to keep up is a big challenge.”
She reminded the public to be cognizant that equipment operators cannot always see pedestrians, especially when people hide to prevent being hit by snow.
“Don't assume that the operator sees you,” Palmer said.
In an email to the Independent, CBJ Streets and Fleet Maintenance Superintendent Scott Gray had a similar message about navigating the streets safely.
“We also ask residents to use extra caution when driving and to watch for snow removal equipment, as operators are working in tight spaces with limited visibility at times,” Gray wrote.
Gray also reminded drivers to continue to check the CBJ website and adhere to “No Parking” zones.
“If vehicles are not moved from posted streets, snow removal operations may not be able to occur,” Gray wrote. “In some cases, streets may become inaccessible to our heavy equipment and could be temporarily closed until they can be safely cleared.”
On Wednesday, the Juneau Assembly signed off on a disaster declaration issued by CBJ and the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska as a result of the Dec. 2025-Jan. 2026 winter storm, which exceeded “the response and resource capacities of both Tlingit & Haida and CBJ.” The declaration was also made in anticipation of significant snowmelt as a result of an approaching atmospheric river.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch starting Friday morning through Saturday evening for most of Southeast Alaska. An additional four to five inches of snow is also predicted before the precipitation switches to rain, with the heaviest rain coming Friday night.
In a Wednesday press conference discussing the disaster declaration, Vicky Roberts, deputy director of DOT's Southcoast region, said the department will be focusing on drainage systems to reduce the risk of localized flooding.
“As conditions continue to improve, our focus is shifting to clearing drainage systems to reduce the risk of localized flooding and open up roadways that have been narrowed by snow storage,” Roberts said. “To support this work, we have deployed emergency contracts to supplement our in-house resources and help accelerate cleanup efforts.”
In an email to the Independent, Roberts wrote the contracts include “snow hauling, sidewalk clearing, and opening up Glacier Highway between mileposts 33 and 36, from Yankee (Basin) to Echo (Cove).”
Clear streets facilitate easy movement for first responders and allow people in Juneau to go about their routines safely.
Ernest Grant, 59, said he walks the Douglas Bridge daily. He said with the snow buildup, he almost slipped, and was afraid he would fall off while crossing.
“I didn’t tell anybody where I was going, because I live alone,” he said on Thursday. “Me and my neighbors don’t always talk. So me walking by myself, pretty much I’m the only one that knows where I’m going.”
He said the bridge “is his worst walk.” Grant said DOT does a great job when they clear the snow and this is the worst snowfall he’s seen after living in Alaska for most of his life. Behind Grant, DOT plowed the bridge's walkway.
• Contact Natalie Buttner at natalieb@juneauindependent.com.
