Lexington officials say additional snow prep will help city avoid earlier woes
Lexington officials are gearing up for a snowstorm, and they say additional measures will help the city avoid the struggles it had during a major storm last month.
The city is forecast to receive 3 to 5 inches of snow beginning at 3 a.m. Tuesday. The snow will continue through Wednesday, switching to rain around 1 p.m.
But they say they’re more prepared than the last round of winter weather, which dropped about 7 inches of snow and a half-inch of ice and left much of the city paralyzed for days.
Among the changes the city says it’s made are adding five plows to the fleet, bringing in parks and recreation workers to drive smaller plows on neighborhood streets and increasing communication with the truck drivers.
“Our city has made a number of changes since the snow and ice storm in January by quickly identifying key improvements and putting them in place immediately,” Mayor Linda Gorton said at a news conference Monday. “We’ve also restocked our supply of salt and beet heat. We’ve hired a number of contractors who will help as needed with neighborhood streets, sidewalks and downed trees and limbs.”
The road department started pretreating roads Monday morning to lessen the impact of the storm.
“The temperatures are going to be hovering around freezing, that’s going to give us a big boost,” said Rob Allen, director of the division of streets and roads, at a press conference Monday. “We hope that this is here and gone within a couple days.”
Emergency Management Director Rob Larkin said snow will impact the morning commute on Tuesday, and he urged people to avoid the roads if possible. If you have to drive, he said, slow down and allow more space between vehicles.
In addition to the five new plows, the city usually runs about 40 plows per shift during snow removal, Allen said.
And the smaller plows, driven by parks and recreation employees, will help clear neighborhood streets, many of which went untouched long after the snow and ice stopped falling in January.
The seventh district of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet maintains major roadways around Lexington, including Interstate 64 and Interstate 75. Crews will report at midnight, and contractors will report at 3 a.m. Tuesday to patrol and treat routes for the 12 counties in the district, including Fayette.
The northern part of the district will likely receive more snow than the southern portion, according to a press release from the cabinet, with the highest snowfall rate falling between 8 and 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Lexington’s Office of Homelessness Prevention and intervention activated its winter weather protocol, which seeks to expand the capacity in shelters during extreme weather. Part of that plan includes operating overflow beds at emergency shelters and relaxing a suspension policy for people who have been barred from shelters.
Larkin said he doesn’t expect the city to see much ice or sleet, which is what caused bad road conditions for Lexington during the last winter storm. That storm left ice on the roads, sidewalks and driveways for well over a week, and caused Fayette County Schools to miss seven in-person instructional days.
Fayette County schools, as well as Clark and Madison counties, have already announced virtual learning days Tuesday.
Meanwhile, rain presents a potential problem for Southern Kentucky, which is forecast to receive little snow but several inches of rain over the next week.
Fire Chief Jason Wells described the upcoming storm as “messy and said the swift water team is prepared to be deployed anywhere in the county if the weather calls for it.
“Turn around, don’t drown. It only takes a couple of inches of water for a small vehicle to become stranded,” he said. “So please do not try to drive through water, particularly if you don’t know the depth of it.”
Mayor Linda Gorton said trash pick-up should not be impacted by the storm, but if your cans aren’t emptied on Tuesday, leave them out until Thursday.
How to get help during winter storm:
- Emergency: 911
- Emergency management office: 859-280-8080
- Lexington Police non-emergent phone line: 859-258-3600
- Fayette County Schools Miles Point bus dispatch terminal: 859-422-0283
- Fayette County Schools Liberty Road bus dispatch terminal: 859-422-0722
- Office of Homelessness Prevention (office hours): 311
- HOPE Center (after-hours homeless prevention number): 859-551-8053