SPARKS –– As another sprinkling of snow is expected to fall on the Truckee Meadows by today, nine city of Sparks snow plows are executing their planned attack on area roads.

According to a city snow removal plan, adopted in the fall of 2008, the main arterial roads and school bus routes will get first plowing priority from all nine trucks. Then, the plows will make their way to neighborhoods in the higher elevations before attacking residential streets in the valleys of the city.

“We will never have enough resources to get to the residential (streets) in the first 24 hours,” Sparks public works director Wayne Seidel said. “Every time we have snow it is always playing catch up … getting resources to the residential areas.”

Seidel said the city will not be plowing cul de sacs and courts because the plows do not have enough room to move around. However, plowing crews said Wednesday that most residential streets have seen a plow since Monday.

“Residential streets generally are not sanded and/or plowed during average snow events due to the level of effort and resources needed on priority one and two roadways,” the snow removal plan states.

The city is responsible for 655 lane miles of road, with 380 of those being priority one and 86 being priority two or residential streets.

When snow storms hit, the Sparks crew of 43 plow operators and supervisors will take turns driving the trucks for 12-hour shifts. The first shift starts at midnight and extends until noon, while the second shift runs from noon until midnight. Then, the process is repeated, according to the snow and ice document.

If the snow falls deeper than six inches, which it did in some areas Monday, the city can call in contractors for some extra help.

As the city still cleans up from the aftershock of the region’s first big snowstorm of the season, ice is proving to be a problem in the residential areas and the city hired outside help from local contractors to chip the ice away.

According to Seidel, the city hired a couple blades to chip the residential ice as well as a few front end loaders to clear the berms made on the side of the road by the snow plows.

According to city municipal code, local construction workers can be called upon at rates of around $100 per hour to help in the event of a snow emergency.

According to the plan, major roads are expected to be cleared within six hours for the average storm. But, according to Seidel, Monday did not bring an average storm.

“This snow has been really tough because of the 12 inches of snow and the really low temperatures at night that are freezing it (the snow) hard as a rock,” Seidel said.

The city’s snow removal crew will not be chipping down the ice on residential roads to the asphalt.

“We have made passes to them all but if we (chip away all the ice) we would be tearing up the asphalt along with the ice,” Seidel said.

According to research from the Desert Research Institute’s regional climate center, the average snowfall for northern Nevada in December is about 2.63 inches. The month with the highest average is January, with an average of 2.79 inches over the past 60 years.

Monday’s storm exceeded the average by dumping more than a foot of snow in the valley.

Is your neighborhood on the priority one or two snowplow list?

City of Sparks snow routes by street, in alphabetical order:

PRIORITY 1 ROADS

12th Street: F Street to Oddie

15th Street: D Street to Rock

18th Street: Byrd to York

1st Avenue: intersections

1st Avenue: McGuffey Road to Sun Valley Blvd

1st Street: Pyramid to Prater

2nd Avenue: intersections

2nd Avenue: Sun Valley Blvd to Whittemore Way

4th Street: Victorian to Prater

4th Street: Wright Way to Puccinelli

Ambush Ridge Drive

Banestone Road

Barbados Drive

Bareback Court

Bareback Drive

Baring Blvd: McCarran to Sparks Blvd

Baring Blvd: Sparks Blvd to N. D’Andrea Pkwy

Behind Alice Maxwell School

Belmar Drive

Blossom View Drive

Burlington

Byrd Drive

C St: intersections; behind old bus waiting area

Calle De Oro Pkwy

Calle Myriam Drive

Campello Drive by Van Gorder School

Campello Drive: Hubble to Generation

Canyon Pkwy

Cleanwater Way

Cobra Court

Cordoba Blvd

Culpepper

Del Rosa: by Diedrichsen and Mendive

Desert Fox Drive

Desert Highlands Drive

Desert Stone Drive

Desert Vista Drive

Disc Drive: Sparks Blvd to just past Vista

Disc Drive: Sparks Blvd to Pyramid

Disc Drive: Vista to Pyramid

E. Glendale Avenue: intersections

Eagle Nest Road at La Posada

Earthstone Drive

El Rancho Drive

Emerson Way: Montecito to N. Truckee

Erin Drive

F Street: Sullivan to 18th

Falcon Ridge Drive

Franklin Way at Greg and Spice Island Drive

Freeport Blvd: intersections

G Street: El Rancho to Sullivan; 15th to 12th

Galleria Pkwy

Gault Way: Florence Drake School

Generation Drive

Giannotti Drive

Golddust Drive

Goodwin Road

Granville

Greenbrae Drive: Silverada to Pyramid; main intersections

Greenbrae: 5th to Prater Way

Greg Street

Greg Street: Sparks Blvd to Vista

Halley’s Court

Henry Orr Pkwy

Howard Drive: intersections

Howard Drive: intersections

Hubble Drive: Quantum Court to La Posada

Industrial Way

Jacinto Avenue

Jacmiel Court

Kiley Pkwy

Kleppe Lane: Sparks Blvd to Greg by bus yard

La Posada: Hubble to Desert Vista

La Posada: Pyramid to Hubble

Larkin Circle at Greg

Libero Drive

Lillard Drive to Brierley, Brierley to Vista

Lincoln Way

Lincoln Way: Sparks Blvd to Lillard

Loop Road to Gandolfo

Los Altos at Vista

Los Altos Pkwy: Vista to Vista

Madrid Drive

Marina Gateway Drive

May Pen Drive

Meredith Way at Glendale

N. Los Altos Pkwy: Pyramid to Vista Blvd

N. Truckee Lane: Queen to Glen Meadow

Nichols Blvd

Nugget Ave.

O’Callaghan Drive: Greenbrae to Sparks Blvd

Off Emerson: Valley Forge, Holman, Bunker Hill, Wilma

Old Waverly Court, Old Waverly Drive

Oxley Drive

Penny Way: behind Lena Juniper School

Pleasant View Drive, Pleasant View Place, Westview

Poco Bueno at Wingfield Springs Road

Prater Way: Galletti Way to 6th Street

Prater Way: Pyramid to Sparks Blvd

Prater Way: Sparks Blvd to Westview

Primio Way: by Marvin Moss School also Prater

Probasco Way: Prater to Queen

Queen Way: Dawn to N. Truckee

Queen Way: Farr to Gwenelle

Richards Way

Rock Blvd

Rocky Ridge

S. D’Andrea to N. D’Andrea just past Novarra

S. Rock Blvd: from Mill St. to Prater Way

S. Stanford: from McCarran Blvd. to Glen Carran Cir.

Santa Barbara

Satellite Drive

Sawgrass Way

Shadow Lane: Sparks Blvd to Baring

Shoppers Way

Silverada Blvd: E. 9th to Wedekind; intersections

Singing Hills Drive

Single Foot Court

So. 21st Street

Solstice Drive

South Florentine

Southview Drive

Spandrell Circle

Spanish Springs Road at N. Truckee, Goldy, Vintage Hills, Sparks Blvd

Sparks Blvd: Disc Drive to Pyramid Hwy

Sparks Blvd: Greg to Prater

Sparks Blvd: Prater to Disc

Spice Island Drive: curves and shady spots; intersections

Sullivan Lane

Sun Valley Blvd: intersections

Talladega Court

Talladega Drive

Teglia

Ten Mile Drive

Tobago Drive

Turnberry Drive

Vanguard

Victorian Ave.

Victorian Plaza Circle

Vintage Hills Pkwy

Vista Blvd: Larkin to S. Los Altos Pkwy

Vista Blvd: S. Los Altos Pkwy to just past Vista Del Rancho Pkwy

Vista Blvd: S. Wingfield to Campello Drive

Vista Blvd: Vista Luna Drive to S. Wingfield Pkwy

Vista Del Rancho Pkwy

Vista Del Rancho Pkwy

Vista Height Drive

Vista Mountain Drive

Vista Terrace Lane

Waterfall Drive by Jerry Whitehead School

Watervale

Wedekind Road: curves and intersections

Whitewood Drive

Whittemore Way to McGuffey Road – past Allen Elementary

Wildcreek Drive: Fairway to City View

Wingfield Hills Road: Rolling Meadows Drive to S. Wingfield Pkwy

Wingfield Springs: Silverton to Calle De Oro

York Way: intersections; Pyramid to Goldy

York Way: intersections

PRIORITY 2 ROADS

11th Street

1st Street

1st Street: Prater to Richards

6th Street at Prater

6th Street at Victorian and C Street

Alpland at Vista

Anqua Drive

Antella Court

Astronomer Drive

Bambey Drive

Banestone Road

Black Oak Road

Canyon Run Drive

Capriolate Drive

Capurro Way

Cathedral Peak

Cheatgrass Lane

Chipwood Drive

Cielo Circle

Clan Alpine at Shadow Lane

Cloud Peak Drive

Coachman Drive

Commerce Street

Coney Island Drive

Crestside Court

Crestside Drive

Darby Rose Lane

Del Rosa Way: Fieldcrest to Vista

Deming Way

Desert Peak

Dry Gulch Way

Eagle Mountain Drive

Eagle Pass Road

Emblem Street

Emerson Way at Sprout Way

Europe Drive at Hubble

Express Street

Falcon Ridge Drive

Fargo Way

Farr Lane

Fir Tree Lane

Firenze Drive

Frisco Court

Garzoni Drive

General Thatcher Drive

Grosmont Drive

Hibernica Lane

Holman Way

Ion Drive

Island Queen Drive

Ivory Ann Drive

Jitney Drive

Keogh Drive

Laser Drive

Lepori Way

Libero Drive

Little Easy Court

Little Easy Street

MacArthur Street

Marbee Drive

Marietta Way

Merchant Street

Mesa Meadows

Mesa Verde Drive

Milano Drive

Milroy Lane

Montero Drive

Northwood Drive

Novara Drive

Oxford Avenue

Pah Rah Drive

Painted Desert

Palo Alto Circle

Panama Drive

Peppergrass Drive

Poco Bueno

Poco Rey Drive

Pradera Street

Promedio Pkwy

Prospect Avenue

Pullman at Prater

PW Maintenance Yard: entrance and exit

Rey Del Sierra Court

Robbie Way: Howard to La Via

Round Mountain at Baring

Roundstone Drive

Russian Thistle Drive

Salomon Circle

San Marino at Cintona Drive

Silver Coyote Drive

Silverton Way

Sorensen Way

Sorrento Lane

Station Street

Street leading to Mental Health Institute

Sweet Briar Lane

Sycamore Glen

Ten Mile Drive

Tree Top Road

Tuscan Way

Tyler Way

Ulysses Drive at Hubble

View Street

Village Meadows

Vintage Hills Pkwy

Wabash Circle

Wheeler Peak Court

Whitney Circle