How much progress has Lexington made plowing neighborhood streets? City won’t say
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- City crews deployed heavy equipment and chemicals over the weekend, but progress is slow.
- Cold temperatures limited salt and Beet Heet effectiveness after Winter Storm Fern.
- Mayor Gorton will reassess snow removal strategy after 2025 investments missed the mark.
As Lexington’s crews mobilized over the weekend to plow streets covered in snow and ice from Winter Storm Fern, city officials offered few details as to how many neighborhood streets had been cleared.
While much of Kentucky missed the heavy snowfall forecasters initially anticipated, Winter Storm Fern brought more than 5 inches of snow and 1.48 inches of precipitation to Lexington when it arrived Jan. 24.
Lingering cold hasn’t helped, and more snow is possible this week. National Weather Service forecasters project another inch of snow is possible for the area Tuesday. Fayette County Public Schools students have not met in person for more than a week, with classes canceled most recently Monday, Feb. 2.
The city’s current snow and ice removal plan prioritizes streets that carry heavy traffic, with neighborhood streets typically receiving lower priority ranking as crews work to keep major corridors clear. As a result, many neighborhood streets used as bus routes may see little or no activity from city clearing crews and contractors.
The Herald-Leader’s calls and an email to Rob Allen, the director of Lexington’s Division of Streets and Roads, were not immediately returned Monday.
Reached by phone Monday morning, Susan Straub, a spokesperson for Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, reiterated the city’s efforts to deploy heavy equipment and chemical treatments to break up the ice, describing them as “slow-going.”
Asked about the delay in clearing more neighborhood streets, Straub said, “the answer to that is ice and continued cold weather.”
Straub was unable to specify how many rank 3 through 5 streets had been plowed by Monday.
“Ice, ice, ice and continued cold weather,” Straub said of what was causing delays to clearing city streets. “The ice is not budging because of the continued cold weather.”
The cold weather is also limiting the effectiveness of de-icing treatments, Straub said. The city has spread 3,600 tons of salt and 12,000 gallons of Beet Heet, a de-icing agent. Crews use about 1,000 to 1,500 tons of salt during a typical winter storm.
“It [the ice] doesn’t melt in these temperatures, and it’s not as responsive to chemicals,” Straub said.
Of the heavy equipment breaking up ice, Straub said, “It’s limited in where it can go and how we can use it and how much of it we have.”
Asked in a follow-up email for any additional details about how many rank 3 through 5 streets had been plowed, along with a timeline for when that may occur, Straub said weather will play the biggest role.
The timeline for when all neighborhood streets will be cleared “depends on the temperatures and how much snow we get,” Straub wrote to the Herald-Leader.
Nancy Albright, Lexington’s commissioner of environmental quality and public works, also could not say exactly how many neighborhood streets had been plowed over the weekend.
“Our focus over the weekend was making sure all of our ranked roads, including the bus routes, were being addressed,” Albright said.
Crews have been getting to unranked roads as they can, but personnel are stretched thin. Albright said about a 100 personnel are working on clearing roads.
“We’re probably getting over 20 requests a day,” to plow individual roads, Albright said, adding that’s on top of maintaining Lexington’s major arteries.
Responding to the public’s criticism of and frustration with the city’s storm response, Mayor Gorton recently signaled plans to revisit how it handles snow and ice removal. She said the city would look to others with more experience combating cold and icy conditions.
Following 2025’s Winter Storm Blair, Gorton said the city spent almost $2 million on new equipment and hiring contract labor.
“We thought that would be enough,” Gorton said Jan. 31. “Clearly, we need to do more.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 1:38 PM.