Town of West Sweden

The Town of West Sweden employs a full time and part time patrolman for the maintenance of our town roads. In the summer months maintenance consists of mowing ditches, patching potholes, grading gravel roads, repairing signs and other similar tasks. As expected, the winter months are primarily dedicated to snow and ice removal as well as tree cutting and equipment maintenance. The patrolmen work a standard Monday-Friday schedule however they are available for after-hour call-outs to handle any safety related situations. The most common of these being trees falling on the road. In the event you run across a situation that could result in an injured motorist or similar matter please contact the patrolman directly at the number listed on the Contacts page of this website, one of the board members, or the Polk County Sheriff’s office at 715-485-8300. As always, in the case of an emergency call 911.

Snow Removal: Since every snow event is different, the timing of plowing is also always changing. However, in general, snow removal will start when approximately three inches of snow have accumulated on the roads. During a significant snow storm plowing activity may be limited to more mainline roads or, for safety reasons, may be suspended altogether until the snow has stopped. In critical areas (hills, curves and intersections) traction is improved by the use of salt-sand that is spread during and after the plowing process.  It is not the goal to melt the snow and ice in these areas…only to improve traction. Straight, open areas of roads are generally not treated. Also, sanding of gravel roads is normally kept to a minimum due to the salts ability to melt thru the packed snow or ice and create multiple potholes that will develop in early spring. Below is a map of the roads West Sweden is responsible for maintaining (Blue).  

Gravel Roads: Approximately twelve of the 52 miles of roads in West Sweden are gravel. It is our goal to grade every dead-end gravel road every 4-5 weeks and busier through roads every 2-3 weeks. Weather plays a significant role in this process as the best time to blade these roads is when the gravel is damp. Blading roads before the frost has completely gone out or when the gravel is overly wet often results in water being trapped under the gravel creating ruts and making the roads worse then they were.

Equipment

Following is a current list of the equipment operated by the Town of West Sweden. Pictures coming soon.

• 2025 John Deere 620G Grader
• 2022 F350 Service Truck with 10′ SnowDogg plow
• 2021 International Plow Truck – equipped with 12′ Monroe reversible front plow, 9′ side wing and sander.
• 2016 New Holland B95C Backhoe
• 2013 John Deere 5115M Tractor with Diamond Long-Arm Mower
• Stepp Manufacturing 1.5 yard Asphalt Hot Box (Purchased with the Village of Frederic)