City public works crews continue to plow ahead to clear snow and ice from roadways as much as possible following back-to-back winter storms that recently hit the Interior.
School bus schedules are likely to be impacted by the snow-clogged roads as students return to school today (Tuesday) after a two-week break, according to the school district. Also, snow removal is planned at Fairbanks North Star Borough trash dumping sites.
“The priority last week was just digging out a lane for cars,” Fairbanks Mayor Jim Matherly said. “This week, we have to pick up the berms before we can clear out everything, and then circle back and clear out the sidewalks and tackle the train crossings.”
Some roads have been difficult to plow because of street-parked cars, according to the mayor.
“We have to plow around cars parked on the street as best as possible,” Matherly said.
Snow removal typically involves three pieces of equipment — the plow blades which break apart snow and ice, followed by a blower that sucks up excess snow and deposits it into a dump truck.
“If you see blades on your street or check the list on the website, make arrangements to move your vehicle and move it into your driveway to make some room for a straight line,” Matherly said.
According to a Monday update from Public Works, a new snow removal schedule will be “done without posting until we widen things up so people can actually have a chance to move their vehicles and trailers for us.”
Public Works will continue to provide a tentative schedule to plow smaller neighborhoods, such as Rickert Street and Bjerremark Street.
The goal, according to Jim Matherly, has been to remove as much snow ahead of this week’s cold snap, including adding extra shifts and authorizing overtime. Equipment, he added, cannot operate in extreme temperatures.
“We had employees working on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day and gave them Sunday off,” Matherly said.
Day crews were busy Monday clearing Rickert Street, and night crews were scheduled to clear Wilbur Street, the back of Fairbanks Police Department’s parking lot, as well as Lower 2nd Avenue and 1st Avenue.
Crews are scheduled to clear out the EM Jones Subdivision today and Bjerremark Street Wednesday through Friday, and South Westgate on Saturday.
Night crews will continue to clear out roads such as Noble Street, Barnette Street, Wendell Street, Old Steese Highway and South Cushman Street — among several others — throughout the week.
The Public Works update stressed the schedule will be “subject to change depending on new winter storms, extreme cold weather, staffing levels and available equipment.”
The recent weather conditions, Matherly said, aren’t common and have been frustrating.
“I would rather it had been 50 below than have what we had, but that didn’t turn out that way,” Matherly said.
He added he understands private residents’ frustrations, but said the city can only do so much at a time.
“At the end of everything we did the best we could,” Matherly said. “Public Works is working really hard and doing well.”
School buses likely impacted
Ryan Hinton, transportation director for Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, said field supervisors were assessing routes Monday to determine which ones are impacted.
“We already know that we are going to see some delays with some of the road conditions out there, which will slow some of the busses down,” Hinton said. “It looks like the surface of the moon in some areas right now.”
The school district is working on a list of impacted routes and will post the list on its website.
Borough to clear transfer sites
Alaska Waste will be clearing hard-packed snow next week from several solid waste transfer sites to improve traffic flow around the sites, acceding to an update from the the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
The borough said transfer sites will be closed for a few hours or all day, depending on the amount of snow.
Alaska Waste will remove hard-pack snow from the Farmers Loop West transfer site on Jan. 10, from Chena Pump and Ester on Jan. 11, Salcha and Moose Creek on Jan. 10, Farmers Loop East on Jan. 13, North Pole on Jan. 14, Badger on Jan. 17, Fox on Jan. 18 and Two Rivers on Jan. 19.
Contact staff writer Jack Barnwell at 907-459-7587.
