Here’s how the city of Rio Rancho removes snow

The City of Vision got hit with a blast of winter Wednesday.

Snow caused the canceling classes for Rio Rancho Public Schools and put city offices on a two-hour delay.

Here’s what Rio Rancho does to make sure the roads are safe for those not lucky enough to get snow days anymore.

The city removes snow on a total of 139 miles of roadway. This process can take a number of hours to complete depending on the severity of the storm. The city of Rio Rancho does not perform snow and ice removal for residential streets.

New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT)

The New Mexico Department of Transportation is responsible for plowing the following roads:

• NM 528 (Pat D’Arco Highway)
• NM 347 (Paseo del Volcan)
• NM 448 (Corrales Road)
• US 550 from the Northwest Loop to NM 528

The city of Rio Rancho does not maintain or perform snow and ice removal for these roads.

Snow removal resources

The city has the following resources at its disposal for snow removal:

• Four large salt/sand spreaders
• Four smaller spreaders with attached plows
• Four graders, which can push snow off roads
• Five crews who are deployed in city vehicles to clear intersections manually; each crew consists of four staff members who work 12-hour shifts

Road closures

Message board signs will be deployed before anticipated snowstorms. The boards will note potential closures pre-storm and will have modified messaging during storm events to direct the motoring public to detour routes. Locations that have a high probability of closure due to snowstorm events include portions of Northern Boulevard and Golf Course Road.

Map of snow removal routes

The map linked here is a high-level overview of all roads plowed by the city and the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT).