ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 3, 1996 TAG: 9602040016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
THE CITY OF ROANOKE, in response to criticism of its efforts during January's storm, says its first priority this time around is to keep major thoroughfares clear.
In response to a storm of criticism about the condition of Roanoke streets during last month's near blizzard, city officials had a new snow-removal plan in place Thursday night as they waited for the first flake to fall.
Instead of dispatching snowplows to all corners of the city, Public Works Director Bill Clark instructed his crews to make sure all primary roads were in good condition before venturing into neighborhoods to clear secondary roads.
"Regrettably, that means citizens won't see us in their neighborhoods for a while," Clark said. "But we can't be in both places at one time."
Two days after a major storm dumped 2 feet of snow on Western Virginia Jan. 6 and 7, Roanoke officials announced that 85 percent of the city's streets had been plowed at least once. But many residents doubted that, and motorists complained that primary roads were noticeably worse just inside city limits than they were in surrounding jurisdictions.
Although the city received both praise and criticism, Clark told City Council at its Jan. 16 meeting that administrators had already begun planning how to do a better job for the next major snowstorm.
When it hit Thursday night, the emphasis on primary roads was not the only change:
Instead of waiting for a call from the city's dispatch center before mobilizing snow-removal efforts, the city kept a full crew of snowplow operators on standby Thursday evening, before it started to snow. "As soon as the first snowflake fell, we put them out on the street," city spokeswoman Michelle Bono said.
This time around, city officials were making no guarantees about when streets would be cleared. But when snowplows do make it to secondary roads, the city is asking residents to park off the street - or, if that's not possible, to park on the even-numbered side of the street - to make more room for the plows.
Employees from the city engineering office were given the temporary job of "trouble-shooters," checking throughout the city for problems such as private contractors dumping snow in the wrong place as they cleared parking lots.
With trash removal canceled Friday, refuse collectors were put to work shoveling the sidewalks around city buildings - a marked difference from last month's storm, when some of the worst conditions seemed to be right outside the Municipal Building.
As snow fell throughout the day Friday, crews kept returning to the primary roads that had been first plowed before 8 a.m.
"As the snow continues to fall, it quickly covers up our earlier efforts," Bono said. "If there is some good news, it is that we have a weekend in front of us and will continue to work around the clock to plow city streets."
Some secondary city streets had been plowed by Friday afternoon, during a lull in the storm. But with more snow forecast, the plows were expected to return to the primary roads.
Elsewhere in Southwest Virginia, roads were snow-covered but passable.
"The snow is expected to come in waves, which means that we might be able to attack secondary roads briefly, but then we'll have to go back to the main roads as they get covered up again," said Allen Williams, maintenance engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation district that covers a 12-county area around Roanoke. As it has with past storms, the state began its snow removal by concentrating on roads that carry the most traffic.
Because a state of emergency called by Gov. George Allen after the last storm is still in effect, the state was able to bring in private contractors to help with snow removal, VDOT spokeswoman Laura Bullock said.
More chemicals and gravel were expected to be used in areas that received ice and freezing rain - including Carroll, Floyd, and Patrick counties - but Bullock said there were plenty of supplies available.
"I don't think we've gotten 10 minutes of snow here. It's been 3 inches of drizzle," Floyd County school Superintendent Terry Arbogast said Friday morning. Because the drizzle was frozen where there wasn't snow, schools in Floyd and most of Southwest Virginia were closed Friday.
In Roanoke, which spent $400,000 on cleaning up after the last storm, supplies are "adequate, but we wish we had more," Clark said.
By early afternoon in Blacksburg, the main roads looked "fantastic," said Public Works Director Kelly Mattingly, with blacktop visible on some byways. As the storm continues, however, the town's public works crew is facing a few more challenges than last month's deluge because winter break is over and Virginia Tech students - and their cars - are back in Blacksburg.
"We'll just go round-the-clock until it's over," said Mattingly, who spoke from a car phone as he toured the town's streets. "Unless it's 3 feet, these guys don't get too excited."
Blacksburg spent $55,000 to $60,000 during the big snowstorm last month, the equivalent of the town's entire snow-removal budget for the year. The town applied for funding from the state Department of Emergency Services, but, like other localities, is still waiting to hear whether it will qualify for reimbursement.
Ten of Christiansburg's 11 plows were in working order Friday and had passed over the town's main roads by midmorning. The town crews then began clearing secondary roads and residential areas, completing more than 50 percent by afternoon.
"We work 24 hours a day in 12-hour shifts," Town Manager John Lemley said.
Lemley said the town's $92,000 snow-removal budget was "pretty much all gone" after January's storm, but he said the town could borrow from the maintenance and capital improvements budgets to cover the expenses of this storm.
Although the snowfall seemed minor compared with last month's, a number of businesses were closed Friday in the Roanoke Valley. Valley View, Tanglewood and Crossroads malls all shut their doors, and flights were canceled for much of the day at Roanoke Regional Airport.
Valley Metro was running on snow routes, and there were some delays as buses maneuvered in the snowy streets.
Staff writers Lisa Applegate, Elissa Milenky and Laura Zivkovich contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. ROGER HART/Staff. A Valley Metro bus slides throughby CNBthe stoplight at Second Street and Campbell Avenue on Friday. The
bus in the background was stuck against the Second Street curb. 2.
WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Whitney Denson hits the snow after giving a push
to (from right) her sister Chelsea Denson and Daniel and David Smith
on Winsloe Drive in Roanoke. 3. DON PETERSEN/Staff Butch McCoy wears
a military-issue face mask as he walks to work in Roanoke. color. 4.
WAYNE DEEL/Staff. A worker uses a front-end loader to remove snow
from the closed Valley View Mall parking lot Friday. Graphic by
staff: Hypothermia.