City prepares for upcoming snow and ice event

Residents should limit road travel for the next 24 hours as slick streets will create hazardous conditions.

Streets and Forestry Division Manager Chris Perry said if residents do need to drive, they should slow down and give themselves plenty of stopping time at all intersections.

“In spite of all our best efforts, ice accumulation and slick conditions may be present in some locations as we battle the storm event for this afternoon, evening and into Saturday morning,” he said. “Please use caution when traveling today, and again – be careful at all stop signs and intersections.”

Perry said the city started pre-salting the roads on Friday morning to help reduce the chance of incidents but the forecasted snowfall may cover up icy patches on streets that accumulated from the freezing rain that precedes the snow.

Before a typical snow event, the city uses a liquid anti-icing treatment for the roads, known as brine. However, it was not used before this particular event because the prolonged rainfall would have caused it to wash away.

The City of Lakewood will have a minimum of eight salt trucks out from 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and seven salt trucks out from midnight to 8 a.m. Saturday. City crews will also be in until 4 p.m. Saturday for post-storm clean-up. If snow fall accumulation rises above the forecasted snow fall amounts, additional people will be brought in to plow snow.

The City of Lakewood is responsible for snow and ice control for a total of 211 lane miles and first responds to all main roads, bridges, hills and secondary main roads which must be kept passable to provide a safe transportation network to the largest volume of people.

Please limit road travel this evening as much as possible – during rush hour, salt trucks can’t make as many passes on streets when traffic volumes are heavy and please do not try and pass salt and plow trucks.

In the event of heavy snow storms, when the City plows residential side streets, residents are asked to move their cars parked on the street off the street, if possible, to give plow trucks additional room to plow and clear as much of the roadway as possible.

For more information on snow removal and parking bans, click here.

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