Lexington's Streets and Roads Director Rob Allen says the city spent nearly two million dollars on new snow removal equipment, including three new snow plows and three tanker trucks to pre-treat roads.
“We're going to up our pre-treatment whenever possible. Sometimes this is not able to be done because of preceding rain. We did add a custom blender and truck fill at West Hickman. We have the ability, for example, if we're going to have sub-zero temperatures, we can adjust the amount of beet heat added to the brine and things like that as the event progresses or the temperature fluctuates.”
Many aspects of this season’s snow plan are the same as last year’s. The aim is to clear most roads within 48 hours of precipitation ending, and to clear sidewalks within 96 hours.
"The extended snow really is a burden to folks, especially pedestrians, and we are well aware of that. And as I said, we have the ability to scale up. We can add equipment and things like that, but it is very expensive and it does take quite a bit of time."
Part of “scaling up” includes a contract with Holt Landscaping, which allows for use of 8 additional trucks.
The city has also added specialized equipment for sidewalk clearing, with more than 84 miles of sidewalks now serviced when accumulation reaches an inch or more. The finalized snow plan will be published on the city's website at the end of October, and residents can report snow removal concerns by calling 311.