City and county officials are urging patience as crews continue to plow snow and do what they can to reduce icy streets during a winter storm complicated by extremely cold temperatures.
“It’s an unfortunate weather event we all have to soldier through,” said Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman. “We’re advising motorists to continue to be patient, although I know all of us are getting tired of that. Frigid temperatures have made it difficult plus the pure volume of snow.”
City crews are continuing to plow snow and use brine-soaked salt to break up some of the icier arterial streets, said Lincoln Transportation and Utilities Director Liz Elliott. The sun on Tuesday — despite the continuing cold — helped.
As of 12 a.m. Wednesday, city crews were going to begin focusing on snow removal in business districts known as snow removal districts, including downtown, University Place, Havelock, Bethany, College View, 11th and G streets, 17th and Washington streets and 25th and Sumner streets.
In those areas, city crews will bring out industrial-sized snow blowers, blow the snow into rows, put it in dump trucks and take it to a field near Oak Lake, Elliott said.
A snow removal parking ban will be in effect Wednesday through Friday from 12:01 a.m. to 7 a.m. each day in those areas. Parking will be banned on both sides of the street, including metered stalls, in areas designated as snow removal districts.
Free parking will be available from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. through Friday at Center Park Garage, 1100 N St., and in the Green 2 Garage, 530 P St. Customers will be charged the posted rate for any time beyond those hours. Vehicles that remain in the garage past noon will be charged for the entire time the vehicle was in the facility.
In the county — which has just one shift of workers that can’t work at night because low visibility makes it unsafe — all roads are open, but a big concern is that many of the ditches are so full there’s no place for additional snow, Dingman said. Winds and drifting snow have been a challenge, she said.
Another challenge: one storm on top of another made it tough to clear all the roads.
“When it kept snowing all day Friday, you’re out on the roads but not making progress. You’re just getting people home,” she said.
Another issue: Diesel fuel gels at 23-25 degrees, and although an additive allows the equipment to operate to 10 below zero, county crews try not to get too close to that point, she said.
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The county has 22 plows, 23 motor graders for gravel and 58 crew members and managers to clear the 1,100 miles of gravel road in the county, Dingman said.
The city has 60 plows, and contractors bring another 30 for arterial streets, Elliott said. Contractors have an additional 75 plows working on residential streets. Between the city and five contractors, there are 165 people working on streets all the time, Elliott said. It takes more than 400 people to make that happen.
While it was slightly warmer Tuesday and temperatures were expected to be in the low 20s Wednesday, sub-zero temperatures were expected to return Thursday and Friday. The National Weather Service is predicting a 60% chance of snow Thursday with wind potentially gusting near 30 miles per hour.
“(The frigid temperatures) limit the tools we have available to us,” Elliott said.
Granular salt pre-wet with brine will be somewhat effective at 15 degrees, but not as much as with warmer temperatures.
“That’s really hampered our options and different ways we can treat snow removal,” Elliott said.
Still, it’s their best tool, she said, so they’ve been putting down pre-treated salt on icy stretches of arterials, waiting for it to melt the ice and plowing the area about 30 minutes later, she said.
Although pre-treating salt with brine helps it stick, sand and gravel is only effective for three to eight vehicles driving through it, and when it’s applied, most of it bounces off the street and onto the curb, she said. So city crews have used it sparingly.
“It’s like dropping marbles on the ground, it just bounces.”
The city’s resources and budget don’t allow the use of pre-treated brine on all residential streets, though it is used on particularly bad spots.
Intersections pose the greatest challenge, Elliott said, because they see the most vehicles compressing the snow. Crews know which streets are likely to be most problematic, but they also appreciate residents alerting them of problem areas.
As of Monday night, the city’s call center had fielded 379 calls and as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, they had 122 requests open that crews were responding to, Elliott said.
Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman said all county roads are open, but a big concern is that many of the ditches are so full there's no place for additional snow.