How road crews plan to treat Lexington streets with ‘deadly cold’ weather approaching
With the first major winter weather event of the season crashing into the region on Thursday night and through the holiday weekend, Lexington officials urged local residents to stay home.
Mayor Linda Gorton pushed for people to stay home through the weekend as wind chill temperatures are expected to remain near or below sub-zero until Sunday.
“First, the rain will make it difficult to pre-treat the roads. Then, temperatures are forecast to be deadly cold,” Gorton said in a Wednesday evening statement. “The rock salt we use to treat the roads loses its effectiveness when temperatures drop to the levels that are forecast. The best thing people can do is stay home until temperatures start to recover.”
What do Lexington road crews use to treat streets for winter weather?
Road crews started 24-hour shifts on Thursday that will continue as needed through the weekend, the city said in a release. Rain throughout the day made the pre-treatment of roads ineffective.
At around 8 p.m. Thursday, road crews are expected to start a full shift of pre-treating streets with trucks “as best we can,” said Rob Allen, Lexington’s Director of Streets and Roads. The night crew will address the expected transition from rain to snow between 9 to 10 p.m.
The rock salt put down on roads only works down to about 18 degrees, Allen said. However, crews will be using the chemical additive, Beet Heat, to make the salt more effective.
“It’s a sugar, beet molasses that we add to the salt that actually puts the working range down below 18 (degrees),” Allen said. “So that’ll help.”
Still the potentially deadly low temperatures will be the main thing to worry about, especially in the event of an accident.
“There’s nothing worse than being in a ditch when it’s -21 out, waiting on a wrecker,” Allen said. “So we’re advising folks to shop early, stay home and like a groundhog, pop out Tuesday when it warms up.”
If folks do need to go out, they should heed good winter weather driving techniques like keeping an emergency kit in the car, Allen said.
“Unfortunately, we have so many people sick this time of year, you know, if they are a nurse going to work a night shift, they need to dress in layers, and have some water and food with them and a blanket,” Allen said.
Plan for Lexington’s homeless during winter storm
Lexington’s Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention has a dedicated Emergency Winter Weather plan that will go into effect Thursday evening and run through Wednesday, Dec. 28.
That plan enables the office to expand capacity in the city’s shelters as well as provide motel vouchers to unsheltered individuals who might not be able to stay in a congregate shelter because of restrictions or health reasons, said Jeff Herron, the office’s homelessness prevention manager.
The office also sends out street outreach teams who communicate the forecast to unsheltered individuals and encourage them to take shelter. Herron said that due to the extremely low temperatures expected, those outreach teams have already been out and talking to folks.
“We’re going to make sure that every effort is made,” Herron said. “We’re not talking temperatures that are right at or below freezing. We’re talking temperatures that are going to be potentially below zero with extreme windchill and we are going to have a space available for everyone.”
There should be space for shelter for everyone who is willing to accept it, Herron said. Those reluctant to go to a shelter can also access a warming center operated by the Catholic Action Center and Lighthouse Ministries.
“For those that truly have a barrier to access any other forms of shelter, we have our motel program to supplement,” Herron said.
When temperatures drop below freezing, LexTran also offers free rides to shelters along their fixed routes for those who request it, Herron said. The Compassionate Caravan, run by the Catholic Action Center, also delivers cold-weather supplies to those experiencing homelessness as well as offering free rides to shelters at night when temperatures dip below freezing.
This story was originally published December 22, 2022 at 10:47 AM.