Bend contractor donates grader work for snow cleanup

Bend construction services company Taylor Northwest is donating to the community four street graders for three full days of additional snow cleanup work, to continue to clear streets that still have abundant snow piled up, the city said Tuesday.

Two recent major snow events have put the city through its budgeted $185,000 to hire contractors for support of city snowplows. An item on the city council’s consent agenda for Wednesday night would boost that figure by $500,000, using both budgeted and contingency/reserve funds (as winter officially arrives only this week).

Taylor Northwest’s four street graders will be strategically distributed around the four quadrants in the city and focus on areas where there is the most need for additional snow removal, officials said.

Taylor Northwest crews will work 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. They anticipate targeting, in this order, arterials, collectors and main local streets. The donated crews will not be covering the City’s entire 850 miles of roads.

“Considering the amount of snowfall and the miles of roads to be plowed, city staff and crews have done a wonderful job in keeping our roadways open to the public,” said Todd Taylor, owner of Taylor Northwest. “Hopefully with some extra help, these crews can enjoy Christmas at home with their families.”

The Bend Streets and Operations Department will send one plow along with each of the Taylor Northwest crews for additional cleanup.

“We appreciate the additional effort from Todd Taylor and the Taylor Northwest Team in helping us serve our community at no additional cost to the city,” said city Streets Director David Abbas.

“The city had all available resources, including contracted resources such as Taylor Northwest, working around the clock for numerous days during the winter event this past week,” Abbas said. “With above freezing temperatures in the forecast this week, Taylor Northwest generosity in donating equipment and operators will go a long ways in helping with the cleanup efforts following the storm.”

After the first two inches of snow accumulates during a storm, the city uses its own crews and equipment and prioritizes plowing a connected network of high-volume streets primarily for emergency service operations – major roads such as Third Street, 27th Street, Mt. Washington Drive and Reed Market Road.

Then city crews and equipment focus on routes to medical facilities, schools, major employment centers and places that need special attention, such as steep hills or curves.

The city works with several contractors assigned to plow certain geographic residential areas, as a supplement to services provided directly by the Streets and Operations Department after six inches of snow accumulates and a storm appears to have set in. Taylor Northwest is one of those contractors.