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Drivers need sun to get rid of ice

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BY KENDRA WALTKE/Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Jan 04, 2008 - 12:12:20 am CST

Why are Lincoln’s neighborhood streets still packed with diamond-hard sheets of ice and riddled with ruts?

Will the ice melt any time soon?

Are Omahans having the same problems?

Andrew Edwards, Lincoln’s street maintenance superintendent, acknowledges the side streets are indeed icy.

“We’ve had a lot of snow and ice compacted,” he said.

The ice has adhered to the side streets, particularly lesser-traveled cul-de-sacs and lanes with more shade. A full month after the first freezing rain fell, Lincoln drivers remain anxious.

In general, the city plows arterial streets and bus routes and doesn’t do residential streets unless more than 4 inches of snow falls, or high winds cause drifting, Edwards said.

Residential streets were plowed in mid-December after a 4-inch snow, but that first pass of the blade left behind a layer of ice.

The 4-inch guideline has been part of the city snow plan since the early 1970s, said Edwards, who has worked for the city since the late 1960s.

The city does not routinely spread sand on side streets, but city crews have been doing so this week by request, Edwards said.

“We’ve been getting a lot of calls.”

Nor does it use salt in neighborhoods due to its corrosive quality.

Lincoln has 1,500 lane miles of residential streets, he said, and the cost of putting material down on all of them would be prohibitive.

But the snow removal department will respond to requests for spreading sand, he said.

“Give us a call,”  Edwards said. “We’ll be out there.”

Nearly 9 inches of snow fell on Lincoln in December, about 5 inches more than normal.

As ice compacts onto streets, Edwards said, it’s hard to remove without tearing up surfaces and asphalt.

Unless workers use a grader with damaging teeth, “You’re only going to get the top of it off,” he said.

Temperatures this weekend may hit the mid-40s, which could cause daytime melting. Lincoln crews have no plans, so far, to clear away slush, Edwards said.

Omaha crews may not either, said Scott McIntyre, street maintenance engineer for Omaha.

He guessed the hard ice will melt to water, instead of turning slushy, but, “We’ll take a look and see what it’s doing,” he said.

Omaha handles snow removal on its residential streets differently.

Plowing is done “on a case-to-case basis,” McIntyre said, even if just 2 or 3 inches of snow falls.

“For the most part, if we have our arterials and secondaries done, we’ll typically go into the residential streets,” he said, unless warming is expected or snow is already melting.

Omaha plowed residential areas a few times in December, he said, and a mix of sand and salt is spread by request.

Still, low-traffic streets remain icy, McIntyre said.

“We’ve had several dozen calls every day,” he said.

Whether the expected warmer temps can melt all of the ice will depend on the nighttime lows, said meteorologist Bryon Miller of the National Weather Service office at Valley.

South winds will bring warm air, but ice that melts during the day may reform overnight.

Today’s high should be near 40, with a low tonight of 23 degrees.

Saturday should be sunny, with a high near 44 and a low of 24.

Sunday is expected to be partly sunny, with a high of 43, but Sunday night carries a 30 percent chance of snow or rain, and a low around 27.

In any case, Miller said, “the thickness and coverage of the ice should decrease.”

Reach Kendra Waltke at 473-7303 or kwaltke@journalstar.com.


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B wrote on January 4, 2008 1:47 am:
" My daughter is visiting from Fairbanks Alaska and says our roads are 100% worse than those in Fairbanks Alaska. That says a lot for our road maintenance here, considering how much snow they get there & no sunshine this time of the year. We live on the south east side of Lincoln and our streets are terrible. Our streets have never been cleaned of snow this season - not even when we had over 4 inches of show. We were thinking perhaps the city maintenance people have forgotten that we are indeed part of Lincoln Nebraska and pay takes in this town? "
O sure.... wrote on January 4, 2008 4:01 am:
" And not too long ago we ALL were told that they did a "great job on the side streets". Now we get political doublespeak. "
they didn't plow wrote on January 4, 2008 6:44 am:
" the street that I live on in dec. "
Brian wrote on January 4, 2008 7:20 am:
" The policy needs to change. These residential streets are just plain dangerous, at any speed. The fact that the city allowed these streets to become so dangerous is ridiculous. "
No Excuses wrote on January 4, 2008 7:27 am:
" Come on, No Excuses. The City did a terribly poor job so far this winter season in removing the snow. The city hasnt even been down our side street yet since the very first snow fall, this is ridiculous. "
JMK wrote on January 4, 2008 7:45 am:
" I find it interesting that they feel doing the residentual streets unnecessary. We on the side streets pay our taxes, we are entitled to have clean streets just as much as the rest of the city. My street (S. Worthington) has yet to see a plow or sand truck yet. Well, there was a sand truck a few weeks back, but it wasn't putting down any sand. Maybe we should pay our taxes accordingly. "
dave wrote on January 4, 2008 7:59 am:
" i used to live in sioux city and they salted their streets way to much. the streets would be white until it rained again. There was never any ice like this, but it did horrible things to your car. "
lolly wrote on January 4, 2008 8:10 am:
" After 2 accidents and our mailbox being taken out I finally called the city to put some sand down. They did come out but only spread around a handful and didn't do both streets. What a joke!!! "
OMG wrote on January 4, 2008 10:13 am:
" Are we going to start complaining AGAIN about how bad the streets are in Lincoln? Geez people, GET A LIFE! "
beerorkid wrote on January 4, 2008 10:22 am:
" It is not easy to scrape ice off a windshield or sidewalk, Just think how hard it would be on that many miles of side streets. Yup, it is a bummer that it has taken so long for the ice to melt, but the crew does a great job. Thanks street clearing crew. "
nitemare wrote on January 4, 2008 10:31 am:
" Cleary out snow removal plan is not up to par. Common sense would dictate the the side streets would be plowed last, but not at all is pure and complete incompetence. I too, have been all over the US as a trucker, and have NEVER seen anywhere as bad as Lincoln. Even just plowing the streets near the schools would make sense. But not in Lincoln. How about making things safer for the kids? Some of these "schools moms" are the worst drivers around. Clean it up Lincoln, before it turns into the hard-packed non-removable mess it has become. As the old saying goes... "Get a grip." Literally. "
Erik B. wrote on January 4, 2008 10:40 am:
" Our side streets are not that bad. The sun is pointing directly at the street so it does melt faster. "
as wrote on January 4, 2008 11:22 am:
" The idea that residents have to call the city ot request services & care for streets they live on is absolutely ABSURD!! Edwards believes that residential plowing is unnecessary? Well I believe that Edwards is no longer a necessary fixture at the city. It's time to completely clean house & get people in there who will actually do their jobs. "
And don't forget... wrote on January 4, 2008 11:49 am:
" ...I want every residential street cleared, but don't raise my taxes to do it. "
Ellen wrote on January 4, 2008 12:06 pm:
" Every residential street needs to be cleared. I can't for the life of me understand why the plows don't scrape the streets during the day when the ice is slush. My street in south Lincoln is a total nightmare from the refreeze every night. The Lincoln street crews are a joke. "
hmmm? wrote on January 4, 2008 1:06 pm:
" As I understand it, the city/county are to make sure the major snow arteries are clear and safe for driving. After that is done, they are supposed to do the side streets. The last sand truck that I saw was comming down 11th street 3 blocks from south st, myself and two other vehicals fishtailed thru the intersection and could not come to a complete stop. Later on that day, still no sand even though a sand truck drove on buy and watched us fight with that intersection. Lincoln collects enough taxes with plates, licensing, luxory, property, bonds and other items used to collect monies. The excuse that gas is hitting 3.00 a gallon again just wont cut it as an excuse for the city of Lincoln to neglect the rest of its tax payers. If the city cant do its job with the alloted budget in clearing the streets (over a month later), time for them to be fired, transferred or whatever and get a crew and mamagement in to replace the current people and get the job done that we pay for....yes city of Lincoln, we pay for! "
too much wrote on January 4, 2008 1:18 pm:
" ice still on my street, i think they did a fair job during the storm, however, they needed to do some follow up work, they should be putting down more salt on the side roads. "
oh great wrote on January 4, 2008 1:57 pm:
" The sand/gravel truck came by......again. It's getting to where the load of gravel they dump is just as bad as the ice. It doesn't really do any good - they just should have done a decent job clearing the streets when we had the snow. Now it will be June before they come by and clean all the sand and gravel up.......believe me, it will be that long. It's like driving on an old country road all Spring. "
pam wrote on January 4, 2008 2:02 pm:
" its sad that when it has anything to do with huskers, the streets would be shiny clean , and no ice, but for just us hard working folks, we still have ice thick on our streets. maybe if i put a red flag on my street, it would be done. "
E wrote on January 4, 2008 2:20 pm:
" People need to remember the root of the problem here. The problem was the ICE storm that came through here that dropped about 1/2" of ice on everything. Think about how long it took you to clear your driveway of all that, then figure how much it would cost to have someone go around with the necessary equipment to clear every side street. As far as our street vs. the streets in Alaska....once again, the question is not how much snow do we get compared to Alaska, but how many ice storms does Alaska get compared to us? It's been an unusual winter already, where we normally get a few days of a break (hopefully this weekend) to melt everything off and start over, but that hasn't happened this year. I guess somehow that's the city's fault, too. "
Cal Naughton Jr. wrote on January 4, 2008 2:53 pm:
" I wanted to complain about the sheet of ice on our street, however after spending an afternoon chipping away at the ice on my driveway, I decided that it would be near impossible to have the city remove the ice from the street without using any salt. I would prefer the city didn't use salt, it is very caustic to the metal/paint on cars. I'll deal with the ice for a couple of weeks, I'd rather not spend my money on a rusted out car in a couple of years. "
Let's see wrote on January 4, 2008 3:15 pm:
" City plows streets= costs city money
City doesn't plow streets= city makes money from "crash" tickets and !Bonus!: it's PRO-BUSINESS because of all the new cars and mailboxes that suddenly need to be purchased. Not to mention all the services such as towing, body work and gee, even hospitals make out like bandits. It doesn't cost the city jack- all they have to do is put up with the whiners placing a few phone calls or posting on a tame newspaper blog that the LJS has so thoughtfully provided. "
out of town wrote on January 4, 2008 4:32 pm:
" Was in lincoln for 3 days at christmas. The side streets were a ice flow. After living away in a warmer climate I forgot how the city takes care of streets. The main ones were clean but the snow on the sides would melt back onto the street to refreeze. One cul-de-sac was like riding a 16 ft boat in 5 foot swells. I know the city is going broke with the schools but surely they can clean better than they have been. Get out the wallets and give some more so the city can run the trucks longer. "
SCW wrote on January 4, 2008 7:37 pm:
" The supposed ice storm was not the problem. The fact that we received approx 9 inches of snow over a couple weeks, and several residential streets were NEVER plowed. That is the problem. Why can't the trucks plow the snow BEFORE it gets driven on for days, & days?? This year is no different than other years. It's always horrible compared to any other community I've lived in. And all of those had far fewer resources than Lincoln does. But those communities actually hold people responsible when they fail to perform their duties. "
Dee wrote on January 4, 2008 8:45 pm:
" Our street is like a wash board - at Christmas our daughter & family came from western NE and the worst roads they had were trying to get to our house. Surely with all the intellegent people that are sitting on city boards there has got to be someone with an answer as to what to do about the streets! First of all work on them right after the storm - 4 weeks later doesn't cut it! Do we need to figure our taxes accordingly??? Would our City Fathers go for that?? Highly unlikely and highly unlikely any of them have ice on their streets. What's harder on a car - wash boardy streets or salt from the clean street? "
Clay wrote on January 4, 2008 9:22 pm:
" It is a proven fact: the more it snows in a particular area the better the roads are maintained. Don't believe me, go to Minneapolis or Buffalo after a snowstorm. By the way, 9 inches of snow in December? Wow. We call that flurries in Wyoming. "
T4acres wrote on January 4, 2008 11:01 pm:
" I live in Lincoln and work in Omaha. The Omaha streets are clear and dry. There is no excuse for the condition of Lincoln streets, no matter what the few defenders say. Lincoln can afford proper maintenance - it just chooses not to in favor of other priorities. In addition to posting your complaints publicly - which is fine and admirable - please contact your city council representative with your concerns as well, as I shall. "
Bill wrote on January 4, 2008 11:38 pm:
" Well then move to Whyoming, if its so bad move. Than k you to the people that work endless hours so we can get out of our neighborhood, I think you guys do great work. "
life long wrote on January 5, 2008 12:34 am:
" i have lived here my whole life and the streets are no different now than they used to be when Lincoln used to get more snow it is just the in flux of people who have moved to Lincoln in the last 20 or so years no nothing but whine and complain about everything i say go back to where you came from thanks public works for you hard work life long citizen of Lincoln "
UPS driver wrote on January 5, 2008 12:49 am:
" I deliver packages through out Lincoln on a daily basis and agree there is a lot of ice on them but i have had no accidents or have i gotten stuck or not been able to make it up any hill i think a little less complaining is in order and a few more driving lessons are in order. Also please do not raise my taxes a thousand a year just to plow side streets for every round of flurries we get instead keep the policy as it is and keep my property taxes the same "
Bike Trails wrote on January 5, 2008 4:22 am:
" Look at the bike trails, They are perfectly clean, as they are after every storm. Why? Because Parks and Rec does it themselves, and doesnt rely on the absurdly incompetent City street crew. If the Department of Rec. can get it right - EVERY TIME, why does the city NEVER get it right? Hmm. Lame "
Reality wrote on January 5, 2008 8:16 am:
" Come on people, you live in Nebraska where snow and ice are common place in the winter. The ice storm that hit us first will be the last to melt on shaded and non shaded sidestreets. You can not budget millions of dollars to blade, salt and sand every foot of street in the city of lincoln. Just deal with it. I live on a side street in Lincoln and it's terrible, do I gripe, no, it's part of life in the midwest winter. "
Next to a High school wrote on January 5, 2008 10:52 am:
" I live right next to Southeast High School on 39th st and that street was not plowed at all since the snow started. WOW!!! Think about the kids driving home from school on that!! Dangerous!!!!! Its out of control! "
Whats wrong here? wrote on January 5, 2008 3:04 pm:
" If our neighboring city, Omaha, has such better streets...why can't we take a few hints? Perhaps we should mix salt in with the gravel. Most cars don't have much metal on them nowadays...and you live in Nebraska! I'd rather have a rust spot on my car or have to replace a muffler than total my car! Seems like common sense to me. As much as we pay in taxes, I do NOT think we are out of line on this. Does anybody realizes how high our taxes are here compared to neighboring states?! "
Don't like the heat wrote on January 5, 2008 4:19 pm:
" If the roads are so terrible and you are so unhappy with the street conditions and the City of Lincoln protocols, why not do the entire city and yourself a favor and move? Move to the clean streets of Omaha or some place where they will serve cheese to go with your whine. "
I would love to wrote on January 5, 2008 4:37 pm:
" Yes, please raise my taxes I would like to pay more in order to keep my streets perfectly clear. I would like to pay more in order to increase available salt and gravel, snow removal equipment, and put lots of salt on the roads so it can rust out my car and harm the vegetation in my lawn. I would love to pay more for asphalt and road repairs when the snow thaws Oh yea, I would also like to raise the taxes even higher to pay over-time to Public Works employees who work hard so there isn't a spec of ice on my street. I would love to pay more taxes so that a couple of months out of the year I don't have to reduce my speed or take an alternate route. Besides I don't feel I pay enough taxes already. "
Cheese for all the Winers wrote on January 5, 2008 6:15 pm:
" People you live in Nebraska and it is winter! Get a hobby, find a charity, spend time raising your kids anything that is more productive than your constant complaining about the condition of the streets in Lincoln. You are the ones who approved a huge bond issue for LPS, you are the ones that allow 68% of tax revenues to go to LPS - if you really care so much about this issue which is due to continuous budget cuts by the City Council do something about it! "
not here wrote on January 6, 2008 12:01 am:
" my street and as far as that goes my neighborhood side streets are clear of snow and ice and have been for weeks nothing but dry pavement but then again everyone had their vehicles off the road when it snowed so the plows could get through all the streets i wonder how many people here complaining had cars and trucks parked on their street so the trucks/tractors could not get through maybe not all but most i would wager "

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