A full month after the first freezing rain fell, Lincoln drivers remain anxious.
KENDRA WALTKE/Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, January 3, 2008 6:00 pm
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.