Asheville Reporter

Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce issued the following announcement on Feb. 19.

Asheville Public Works is loading salt into its spreaders and attaching plows to its trucks to be in a state of readiness should we need to treat roads. 

On Wednesday, Asheville’s Public Works Department mobilized crews and equipment, preparing to treat roads for snow predicted for Thursday.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for 1 to 3 inches of snow accumulation Thursday into Thursday night. A Winter Weather Advisory goes into effect at 5 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 20.

A Public Works crew is on call starting at midnight tonight; following that, crews will report at 7 a.m., unless the snow arrives early.

All Streets Division trucks are equipped to double as plows and salt spreaders and ready to respond when the storm starts. The City has 4,000+ tons of salt on hand to treat roads. Salt spreaders are loaded and ready to go.

Our Streets crews will stay on the job around the clock as needed, to remove any accumulating snow, first from our priority one streets, then moving into secondary / neighborhood streets as the priority routes are cleared. Priority one roads are major routes needed for emergency response as well as streets where ART bus routes run. Streets crews will also remove snow on sidewalks in front of City-owned property. 

The City’s Snow Mapper shows which roads are priority one.

Roads are not being pretreated, because rain is expected in advance of the snow and therefore the brine could wash away. 

The City of Asheville maintains 410.34 centerline miles of roads, which translated into 805 lane miles. During snow events, Public Works removes snow from 180 centerline miles of priority one streets, 318 centerline miles of priority two streets, which adds up to about 498 centerline miles, including 87 miles of NCDOT-maintained roads. 

Coordinated response

The City of Asheville is working in partnership with Buncombe County for a coordinated response to this snow event.

“One of my main priorities is to forge an allegiance of first responders working together,” said new Buncombe Emergency Services Director Taylor Jones. “We are following the weather very closely and are working with multiple agencies across the region to coordinate readiness efforts.” 

Where to find emergency information

Visit BCReady for emergency preparedness information, such as a list of emergency supplies for a preparedness kit. Scroll down the page to find emergency numbers, such as who to contact if your power goes out.

For City of Asheville emergency alerts, register for AVL Alert at this link. 

Code Purple called

Also of note, the Asheville Homeless Coalition has called a Code Purple for Thursday and Friday. Please encourage those who need shelter from the frigid temps to seek it! Here is a link to resources: http://bit.ly/2WrXnde.

Avoid driving in snow

As a reminder, if you do not have to drive in snow, please stay off the roads, for your own safety and that of our first responders.

Original source: https://www.ashevillenc.gov/news/asheville-public-works-crews-are-prepared-for-predicted-snow/