Over the past couple of months, it’s been very snowy in Stoughton. Public workers are an important part of helping residents move safely throughout our city. Residents should appreciate public workers, as the city roads have been cleared efficiently after every snowfall this winter.
Director of Public Works Brett Hebert has held his position for the past 10 years. According to Hebert, “Early on in the 2025-26 snow season, the plows were deployed more than typical for larger snow events,” with 43 inches of snow in November and December. As a result, Stoughton’s snow removal crews have been working more this year than in previous years. Hebert said “Many residents don’t know or think about the fact that our plow drivers put in long hours clearing the roadways, and then at the end of their shift, they come home and have to shovel their own driveways, with wind rolls from the plow at the end of their driveway too.” In addition, many residents don’t know that whenever there is a significant snow event, drivers put in long hours clearing during and after the storm, but the following night, they come in to remove snow from the downtown area and plow back the wind rolls from all of the parked cars. Each snow event becomes a multi-day operation to clear our roadways.
Hebert said that one thing people can do, if possible, is to move their cars off the road until they are able to finish clearing the snow. “Most accidents that happen with snowplows occur when cars are parked in the roadway,” he said.
Another challenge snowplow drivers face is that residents often snow-blow or shovel the plowed snow back into the street. Brett said “that defeats the purpose of us plowing the snow off to the side of the roadway” and makes additional plowing trips necessary.
Hebert also advised residents to rely on the city’s website for accurate snow event information rather than social media. “If residents have a question, they are more than welcome to call our office or send us an email!” he said.
When asked about the dangers of the road clearing, Brett answered: “Any time you are working with heavy machinery in adverse weather conditions there are risks that we try to mitigate. This is why we ask the general public to give us some space and let us to our job. In general, working in the public right-of-way comes with inherent risks due to the motoring public. Distracted driving is one potential risk that is always on our mind. With the amount of cell phone use while driving and the ever increasing infotainment systems in vehicles, we are always concerned with vehicles inadvertently driving through our workzones.”
When asked what residents can do to make life easier for snowplow drivers, Herbert said, “We just ask that the public gives us space when on the roadways to clear the roadways during a snow event. It takes roughly eight hours to clear all city roadways once the snow has ended. We try to be as efficient as possible when putting together our routes.” Another way Brett suggested the community could thank the crews was with a simple wave when you see them on your road. He notes that, “We are just out there doing our job and take pride in what we do.”
