Cancelled - Hopkins Twin Cities: Snow Plowing in the Big City

Hopkins Twin Cities

Join Johns Hopkins and Penn alumni and guests as we learn what it takes to manage snow and ice control in one of the Twin Cities major urban municipalities. Hosted at the Currie Maintenance Facility just west of downtown, the evening will consist of a boxed lunch (starting at 5:30pm) followed by a presentation with Q&A at 6:30pm with Mike Kennedy of Public Works, followed by a shop tour to kick a few tires and see some of the equipment used to battle snow in Minneapolis. Included will be a discussion on the special challenges around this year's Super Bowl. Al Thunberg, Maintenance Manager from the Fleet Services Division will accompany as well.

Public Works is responsible for maintaining nearly 1,000 miles of streets, 400 miles of alleys, and a growing number of trails and bicycling facilities, all with their own specific challenges. We will talk about snow and ice control in general, how Public Works staffs for the winter, winter preparedness, response strategies, and how we deal with any winter events from a few freezing bridge decks to a major winter blizzard. Unlike the suburbs, the urban core cities must manage a parking problem in order to plow streets. With that comes a Snow Emergency Plan that includes heavy enforcement of parking rules, as well as an aggressive public outreach effort to encourage compliance with the rules.

Mike is the Director of the Transportation & Repair Division of the Minneapolis Department of Public Works. He has been with the city for 25 years and involved with snow and ice control in some capacity for most that time. He is a Minneapolis area native and holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Oregon State University.

This event has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances - we hope to reschedule for another time in the future!