DENVER — Denver is breaking out some heavy machinery to try and get rid of all the ice that’s built up on neighborhood streets. Instead of going out with an ice pick and spending hours trying to do it yourself, the city is sending construction equipment to try and scrape it off.
"They’ll send the equipment out to an area and hit all of the complaints that have come in," said Nancy Kuhn with the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. "It does have a giant blade that can get along the curb line and scrape up the snow and ice and does an effective job."
So how do you request one of those giant ice scrapers to show up at your house? You can call 311 or file a request online through the pocketgov website.
However, it could take a long time for the crews to get to your street. Denver says around 800 people are already signed up on the list waiting for the service.
"When you consider we have six pieces of equipment covering the entire city, it’s a process and it’s one that takes some time to do," said Kuhn.
The city can only work to clear the icy patches of road with the heavy machinery when it's not snowing. That's because the people who operate the machines are also the people who drive the snow plows.
"I’m thrilled, I’m thrilled," said Sam Strong as she watched the machines break up ice in front of her home Thursday. "That will stay there until May unless they come out and do it. It just doesn’t get any sun on that street at all."
The machines then leave the broken up ice in the street and wait for it to melt in the sun.
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