After this recent snowfall, the grounds crew has been out clearing University of Wisconsin - Superior parking lots and sidewalks at an early hour of 4:00 a.m., but as the season gets longer and the snow keeps on pilling up, the crew will eventually have to get up two hours earlier just to get all of the snow out of the way.  

According to Don Walberg, the lead of the Grounds Maintenance staff at UWS, this first snowfall took the crew over five hours just to clear the parking lots, with an additional three hours to clear all of the campus sidewalks.

At some point, there will be more snow than space left around campus. So, that is when the grounds crew starts working the graveyard shift. Often, they start around midnight and haul snow until it’s gone or until students and faculty starting arriving to school around 7:30 a.m.

At that point, if there is still a lot of snow on the ground, the crew may have to come back multiple nights in a row just to get it all cleared away.  If you live or are near Ross Hall, you will notice that they will start hauling the extra snow and pilling it up by the soccer fields, probably after the next big snowfall.

The faculty and students have always been cooperative over the years, but Walberg mentioned that sometimes people aren’t paying attention and walk behind trucks that are backing up. Remember that there are blind spots behind dump trucks, so in order to be safe, make sure the driver sees you before you get to close.  

“Just be careful out there when walking and driving – we don’t want anyone to fall,” Walberg said.