‘Stay off the roads.’ Beshear declares state of emergency. Bitter cold follows snow.
State and local leaders urged residents Thursday to stay off the roads as up to 4 to 6 inches of snow was expected to blanket much of Central Kentucky by Thursday evening.
Kentucky’s first major snow storm of 2022 shut down portions of Interstate 75, the Western Kentucky Parkway and Interstate 71 by Thursday afternoon and had caused more than 75 accidents in the Fayette County area alone.
“Please do not travel if you don’t have to today,” said Gov. Andy Beshear at a press conference at noon on Thursday.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton echoed Beshear’s call for people to stay home as crews worked to clear roads and police responded to dozens of accidents.
“The city needs the assistance of every resident,” Gorton said. “We urge people to stay off the roads if you can. Help your neighbors, especially the elderly.”
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, Lexington police had responded to 102 non-injury accidents and 18 injury accidents. None of the injury accidents were life-threatening. Police also helped with six motorist assists and 18 traffic hazards.
One of the injury accidents involved a Lexington police officer who was responding to an accident on Jacks Creek Pike near Old Richmond Road. Another vehicle hit the officer when the vehicle was not able to stop in time. The officer did not suffer serious injuries and was able to drive himself to the hospital, Lexington police said.
At 3:30 p.m. Lexington police quit taking non-injury accident reports, according to a press release. The department was still answering calls for injury accidents or accidents where the car was disabled. Police asked people to exchange insurance information, take photos of the damage and contact their insurance companies. People have 10 days to report a collision to police. People can also file an accident report online at www.kentuckystatepolice.org/civilian-collision-reports/.
Lexington police called in extra officers Thursday to help manage the surge in accidents.
“We are asking everyone to be patient and use caution,” Weathers said. ”Please slow down and allow yourself extra time.”
Most of Interstate 75 and portions of Interstate 64 in Fayette County were shut down shortly before noon due to multiple accidents, Weathers said. Some of those accidents involved tractor trailers. Northbound I-75 opened around 3:30 p.m., Lexington police said. Interstate 64 was also icy in many places with traffic in some areas of that major east-west interstate at a standstill by Thursday afternoon, according to Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials.
Kentucky State Police and Elizabethtown city officials said a more than 20-car pile up on the Western Kentucky Parkway shut down both inbound and outbound lanes. The incident happened before 3 p.m. near mile marker 132 in Hardin County, according to a Twitter post from the city of Elizabethtown. Video from the accident posted on social media showed multiple tractor trailers and cars in the median.
State police also cautioned drivers to avoid a section of I-64 in Montgomery County. A section between mile marker 101 and 110 was closed after 3 p.m. due to another multiple-vehicle pile up. Police said the interstate would be closed for several hours as crews worked to clear the roadway.
Many frustrated travelers spent hours waiting for crews to clear I-75, I-64 and Western Kentucky Parkway Thursday afternoon as accidents clogged roadways.
Traffic was also at a stand still on many major Lexington roads by mid afternoon as the snow, cautious drivers and accidents made travel treacherous and slow.
Lexington streets and roads crews started treating most Lexington streets with brine on Tuesday and continued pretreating roads on Wednesday. In addition, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet also pretreated major bridges and overpasses earlier in the week, Beshear said.
But even pretreated roads can quickly become covered if there is enough snow, Beshear said. “Give snow plows plenty of room and make sure your car is winter ready.”
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials also warned motorists many roadways could become covered with black ice, which is difficult to see, by late Thursday due to the plummeting temperatures.
Lexington Environmental Quality and Public Works Commissioner Nancy Albright also asked the public to be patient on Friday. Temperatures were supposed to dip to the single digits on Thursday night. That bitterly cold weather will make clearing snow off roads more difficult when the snow stops, she said. Lexington streets and road crews were working around-the-clock to clear and treat roadways, city officials said.
Garbage pick up and expanded services for the homeless
City garbage collection may also be delayed on Friday due to the storm, Gorton said.
“Please be patient with us,” Gorton said. Garbage not picked up on Friday will be piked up on Saturday or Wednesday, she said.
The city also has expanded its homeless shelter space by 400 beds, said Polly Ruddick, director of the Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention. The city has street outreach teams who have been working to bring people who normally sleep outside indoors, Ruddick said.
The snow storm also prompted multiple closures and cancellations.
Lextran, the city’s bus service, had to suspend service Thursday afternoon due to the worsening road conditions.
School districts throughout Central and Eastern Kentucky closed their doors to in-person learning Thursday in preparation for the storm.
In addition, most state and most city offices closed at noon on Thursday. Many private businesses also shuttered early in preparation for the storm.
City offices will not be open until 10 a.m. Friday, Gorton said. The city was operating on a two-hour delay.
Snow storm the latest in a string of severe weather events
Thursday’s storm was just the latest in a string of severe weather events to strike Kentucky in the past 30 days. Tornadoes hit ten Kentucky counties on New Years Day, which triggered flooding in many parts of Kentucky and multiple mud slides. Damage assessments in those counties was still ongoing, Beshear said. No one was killed in those storms.
Pike County was expecting between 4 and 8 inches of snow on Thursday. Dozens of homes have been destroyed or damaged due to Saturday’s flooding. Pike County Emergency Management Deputy Director Nee Jackson said Thursday if the county gets 8 inches of snow, he has concerns about more flooding on Sunday.
A deadly series of tornadoes killed 77 people in Western Kentucky on Dec. 10 and Dec. 11, wiping out more than 1,000 structures and causing widespread damage in multiple counties including Warren and Graves counties.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 2:30 PM.
