St. Louis County To Add 12 Snowplow Trucks To Their Arsenal

While the timing might seem connected to our recent historic snow storm, the action by the St. Louis County Board to add snowplow trucks to their arsenal was in the works before the November 30-December 1 blizzard.  At their recent meeting, the county board moved to approve the purchase of 12 new tandem trucks that will double as both snowplows and will also be used to hauling purposes. Total purchase price for the purchase is $1.59 million.

The new trucks will be used to phase out those that are currently more than 20 years old.  The vote to purchase was timed to the manufacturing process; the tandem trucks typically take 9 months to be built, so a purchase now would ensure that they're ready for use during the Winter of 2020-2021.

At the same meeting, St. Louis County Board members also agreed to up the funding for equipment by $2 million - a move that allows the Public Works Department to ensure that their existing feet is ready and capable to provide service; that reliability is especially important and visible during blizzards like the one we just had in the Northland.

As one of the largest counties in the country, the job to maintain roads and highways is a big one.  St. Louis County Public Works is responsible for maintaining 3,000 miles of road.