‘Be patient.’ Mayor Gorton, Lexington officials say ice, sleet hampering plowing
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- Mayor Gorton urges patience as crews struggle to clear 1,200 miles of streets.
- City prioritizes major bus and collector routes; neighborhood streets lack resources.
- Shelters, warming centers and NTI activated as cold and ice strain services.
Mayor Linda Gorton asked residents to be patient as the city digs out from Winter Storm Fern, which iced roads and dumped 5 inches of snow in Central Kentucky.
The ice and bitterly cold temperatures since Jan. 25 have complicated Lexington’s efforts to plow more than 1,200 miles of city streets, Gorton said during a Wednesday press conference at the city government center.
“People just need to be patient,” Gorton said in response to questions about why some city roads are still choked by ice and snow. “They continue to make progress. We had a half foot of snow plus ice.”
The main roads such as Nicholasville and Richmond are clear, city officials said. The city had to re-plow those roads multiple times during more than 30 hours of snow fall between Jan. 24 and Jan. 26.
Director of Streets and Roads Rob Allen said crews are moving to major collector roads and neighborhood collector roads on Wednesday.
Ice on those roadways has hampered those efforts, Allen said.
Lexington beefs up snow response
Since complaints after a January 2025 snow storm, the city has beefed up its snow response, adding more contractors and equipment. The city has also been helped by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet trucks, Allen said.
Allen said the city does not have resources to get to every neighborhood street. The city’s snow plan was not designed to treat every street, city officials said.
The city is focusing on clearing major bus routes, he said.
Fayette County Public Schools have switched to non-traditional instruction, or NTI, a type of remote learning, since Monday due to the cold and unsafe road conditions.
Fayette County Public Schools Director of Transportation Daryn Morris said school facilities and grounds crews are trying to dig out the public school system’s schools and are meeting the same stubborn ice and snow hampering the city’s clearing of secondary roads.
Wednesday’s sunny weather aided those efforts, Morris said.
“There is a significant amount of snow and ice on those campuses,” Morris said. “The sun will benefit us more than anything.”
Calls for service, accidents down
Gorton and other city officials praised area residents for staying home and off city roads during the brunt of Winter Storm Fern.
That kept calls to police and fire relatively low, city officials said.
From approximately 2 p.m. Jan, 24 through approximately 10 a.m. Wednesday, the Lexington Police department has responded to 11 injury collisions, 91 non-Injury collisions; 264 motorist/citizen assists and responded to 98 traffic hazards.
“We would have seen much more significant numbers if people had not stayed off the roadways,” said Assistant Police Chief Sam Murdock.
Murdock also encouraged people to drive slowly. With dangerously low temperatures, roads will refreeze, he said.
Lexington Fire Chief Jason Wells said the fire department responded to about 600 calls for service during the storm, the typical amount of calls it would receive during a non-storm event.
Some of the storm-related calls included water line or utility problems, carbon monoxide-related calls and sprains and strains caused by snow removal.
Wells also encouraged people to stay off area ponds and lakes that may appear frozen. The ice may not be thick enough to handle a person’s weight.
“Very rarely is it safe to walk on ice,” Wells said.
Fayette County Sheriff Kathy Witt said deputies were busy throughout the storm bringing health care workers to area hospitals and helping patients and their families.
One of those runs included a family who wanted to see their grandfather who was dying in a local hospital. Another involved a local veteran who needed to get to the local Veterans Administration hospital for chemotherapy. Deputies also took a woman whose mother had just died to a local nursing home so the woman could see her mother before she was taken a funeral home, Witt said.
What about sidewalks?
Due to low temperatures, Gorton has suspended enforcement of a city ordinance requiring residents to shovel sidewalks after 4 inches of snow has fallen and the street has been plowed.
It’s not practical and too dangerous for people to try to de-ice sidewalks, Gorton said Wednesday.
Additional day shelters opened for unhoused population
Commissioner of Housing Advocacy and Community Development Charlie Lanter said most homeless shelters are over capacity. The bitterly cold temperatures are still a hazard for the city’s unhoused population, he said.
“Our folks are not out of the woods,” Lanter said. “The cold is the real killer here.”
Lanter said many of the area’s homeless shelters are tapped out and need donations and help.
Two day shelters are also stepping up to help keep people warm.
People experiencing homelessness can access New Life Day Center, 224 North Martin Luther King Blvd., during daytime hours. Lighthouse Ministries will serve as an overnight warming center at 190 Spruce Street.
Lighthouse is open 6 p.m.-7 a.m. through Feb, 2. Lighthouse also will provide lunch and dinner daily. This is in addition to Lexington’s seasonal shelter at 1306 Versailles Road for adult men and women, and several other shelters, Lanter said.
This story was originally published January 28, 2026 at 1:47 PM.
