Public Works Director Dwayne Allen said he justified funding to upgrade the city’s winter fleet in 2011 after several winter storms, and added the capability to apply liquid treatment, as well as a truck and plow.
“Our equipment and techniques proved successful during multiple large winter events,” Allen said. “But each event is different, and we learn from each experience.”
The city experienced mild winters the past five years. Then the polar vortex hit in mid-February with back-to-back snowstorms, ice, strong winds and temperatures down to 20° below. Allen said that experience strained resources especially as one of the trucks used to treat streets broke down and the city had to wait to collect road treatment materials. While main roads were largely kept passable, Eureka Springs has a lot of steep streets that make it difficult to safely treat the roads.
Allen said the winter event has them reviewing every aspect of our preparedness and response.
“The most pressing needs are items that I have been trying to fund since I was hired including funding for equipment and vehicles to safely and efficiently perform our tasks,” Allen said. “We also need a structure to get the vehicles, supplies, and equipment out of the weather. The mayor is working to help us achieve this as this event magnified our needs. But when we experience another situation like this Presidents’ Day, I would still prioritize keeping the water flowing, the sewer from overflowing, the power restored, and assisting citizens that had to get out due to emergencies before we plow each street in the city, just as we did during the 2009 ice event.”
In an email response following the storms, Mayor Butch Berry said priority was given to clearing primary routes in town and to addressing emergencies – both life threatening and infrastructure – like frozen pipes, water mains, pulling people out of ditches and getting them to safety.
Another priority was organizing shelters for citizens losing power and water, and for housing homeless people. He said it is almost impossible to clear ice from the streets when the temperature is -15°. Beet juice and salt does not work properly when the temperature goes below 10° and freezing rain starts.
“We can scrape the snow, but then you have ice,” he said. “We do not use steel blades to remove ice, because of the damage that they do to the streets and manholes. Some have complained that their street was not plowed. There are 155 winding and hilly streets in Eureka – many are very steep. Even though Public Works attempted to clear some, they were unable to make it to many streets with the ice coating and some were impassable with cars parked along the street.
“Many of those streets are dead ends with no turn around for the trucks. The expectation to have every street in town cleared, especially the steep ones, is simply not very realistic. And no one should demand their street takes priority over another. Everyone was impacted by this storm. We tried to take care of the streets as fast as we could.”