Winter has finally arrived, how does Rexburg answer the call of snow?

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI) - The City of Rexburg, much like the City of Idaho Falls, answers the call for plowing roads when two inches of snow accumulates on the ground.

The City tries to get most of its plowing done in the early hours of the day before most people hit the road in the early morning hours.

"We plow at night. So that way we're not in the middle of traffic," Keith Davidson public works director for the City of Rexburg.

"They work all night long and they get the whole city plowed in one day, which is really amazing when you think about it, because in a lot of places, it takes two or three days to get the cities all totally plowed and our guys get it done in about 10 or 12 hours. They work all night long to get it done and just do a really good job," Rexburg Mayor Jerry Merrilll said.

According to a Rexburg informational video, it takes crews 10 hours and $25,000 to plow the whole city.

The video also says it would be more costly to plow every time it snows.

"On average, we're probably $26,000 to $30,000 every time we go out and plow," Davidson said.

The money comes from Rexburg's general street maintenance budget. The City has allocated approximately half a million dollars to that budget.

Mayor Merrill says they have to make sure they not only plow when they need to, but make sure they still have enough funds in the spring time for road repairs.

"We look at it and try to balance that with, you know, trying to do a good enough job on snow removal, that it keeps the roads clear and safe for people to get around, and yet try to be fiscally conservative on the amount of money that we spend on it so that we've got enough money left to be able to do the road repairs we need to do as well," Mayor Merrill said.

The City also has an ordinance that prohibits overnight street parking, between the hours of 2 AM to 7 AM from Dec. 15 to March 1. The idea is to keep the streets clear so the plows can do their work.

"No leaving vehicles overnight on the street is one of the biggest things because in have our plows have to plow around those vehicles, and then we have to come back and clean that up at a later date when the vehicles moved," Davidson said.

The City also sprays a brine or salt solution on all the major roads in Rexburg before it snows.

Rexburg is broken into five zones for snow removal.

Zone 1 is the main residential area and surrounding roads by the Temple.

Zone 2 is the south side of town starting at Main Street and heading to Archer on the east side of Highway 20

Zone 3 covers the same area but on the west side of Highway 20. South Yellowstone and South 5th West are the border between the two zones.

Zone 4 is the north side of town on is on the other side of the main street continuing north.

Zone 5 is North 2nd East until the North Rexburg Highway 20 exit and everything further east on Highway 20.

The city has an interactive map found here. They also have more information that you may need regarding snow removal at the same link.