Episode 138: Designed for snowplows

About this episode

The episode discusses the importance of considering snow removal in infrastructure projects, highlighting the GARS Intersection project in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Developing an infrastructure project is series of compromises and tradeoffs and so often maintenance and operations considerations end up on the cutting room floor. Unfortunately, those decisions have implications that agencies have to live with for a long time. In the case of the GARS Intersection project in Fairbanks, Alaska everyone knew that snow removal was to be a significant consideration during the development phase. Sarah Schacher, Transportation Department Manager for th...

People in this episode

Host: Rick Nelson

Guest: Sarah Schacher

Topics covered

• infrastructure
• snow removal
• maintenance
• operations
• tradeoffs
• transportation

Keywords

• infrastructure
• snowplows
• maintenance
• operations
• GARS Intersection
• Fairbanks
• transportation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Transportation Department, GARS Intersection project

Places: Fairbanks, Alaska

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• Bonus Episode 142: Pacific Northwest Snowfighters 2026 · January 29, 2026 · 31 min
• Episode 141: Maintenance-If you think it's not important, just stop doing it · January 16, 2026 · 46 min