Lexington officials review snow-and-ice response after back-to-back January storms

Commissioner Nancy Albright and Lexington streets-and-roads staff told the City Council on Jan. 27 that the city’s response to two named winter storms from Jan. 5–11 was hampered most by ice accumulation, fallen tree limbs and extremely low temperatures, and outlined operational fixes and longer-term changes the city will pursue.

The presentation summarized what crews did before and during the events, detailed the limits caused by ice (which requires breaking before plowing), and said city crews treated ranked roads first while responding to hundreds of calls about blocked trees and local streets. Commissioner Albright said the city pretreated for days, had contractors and staff in place before the storm and used beet juice mixed with salt as its main liquid treatment.

Why it matters: Lexington’s storms left pockets of long-lasting ice that affected people who walk, use transit and need safe school routes. Council members repeatedly pressed staff for specifics on how the city prioritizes schools, bus routes and sidewalks, and pressed for clearer public communication about what “treated” or “cleared” means so residents better understand expectations.

Most important details

- Primary operational challenge: officials said ice—rather than snow alone—made clearing slower because plows cannot reliably break ice; crews sometimes had to use repeated liquid applications or mechanical grating, which can damage pavement. Commissioner Albright said crews sometimes had to suspend treatment overnight when temperatures made chemicals ineffective and driving hazardous.

- Downed trees and limbs: staff reported a large workload from storm-related vegetation: a spokesperson said the city logged about 185 tree-related calls from Sunday through Wednesday during the event, and crews had to pull operators off plows to clear road-blocking limbs.

- Bus routes and schools: staff said Fayette County Public Schools provided additional bus-route data in the fall, after the city had already set pre-treatment plans; staff and several council members said the two agencies have increased communications but still need better software/data-sharing and agreed to pursue closer coordination (including the idea of a school representative in the city’s PSOC for major events).

- Staffing and training: streets operations managers said the division typically runs about 20% vacancy among frontline Class B CDL dump-truck drivers and noted 12 current vacancies in the division. The city relies on cross-department support (parks, waste management) and contractors when needed. New-hire pay increases approved last year have improved recruitment, officials said. Training includes classroom/video work plus hands-on route training; staff said the goal is up to 40 hours of training per driver.

- Contractor and equipment steps already taken: parks and recreation provided trucks and staff; the city has lined up three landscaping contractors for neighborhood streets (with interest from six others), and the administration has started the process to buy three additional tanker trucks to improve pretreating capacity. The city currently uses four tanker trucks and expects new purchases to arrive in months (staff later said an estimated lead time of about eight months for some specialty equipment).

- Budget and reimbursement: the administration said it had roughly $500,000 in reserve beyond full salt barn stocks and contractor commitments and will first use operating dollars for extraordinary storm costs; if costs exceed available resources and a state/federal emergency is declared, FEMA reimbursement remains an option but is a lengthy process.

Council questions and follow-up directions

Council members pressed for specifics on (1) how tree/limb calls are triaged (staff said they triage by complete blockages first, then lane blockages, then debris removal), (2) how unranked residential streets might be prioritized in prolonged events, (3) whether bus-route streets could be added to ranked lists, and (4) sidewalk clearing responsibilities and incentives. Staff committed to:

- Reviewing ranked-road assignments and bus-route coverage over the summer and holding stakeholder meetings (typical stakeholder meeting timing: late August to mid-September) to examine adding or shifting ranked routes and to improve software interoperability with Fayette County Public Schools. - Overhauling the snow-plow tracker and reviewing communications strategy with the city’s public information office so residents understand what “treated” or “cleared” means. - Continuing to line up additional contractors and contractors’ contract terms: staff said larger contractors (Red River Ranch) are on call under committed contracts while landscaping firms typically would finish existing private contracts first and then respond to the city 12–24 hours after a storm unless the city secures different contract guarantees earlier in the year.

Public comments and pedestrian impacts

Two public commenters raised pedestrian-safety concerns. Gil Dunne asked the council to reconsider proposed changes to short-term rental buffers in rural/agricultural zones (a separate agenda item) and to weigh tourism/economic effects; Dave Cooper described difficulty walking in his neighborhood and urged better pedestrian and trail clearance, calling the prolonged ice conditions a public-safety issue.

What the city said it will study

- Whether to revise service levels to explicitly include an “ice response” category separate from standard Level 1–3 storm responses so operations and budgets trigger different actions when ice, not snow, is the primary hazard. - Whether to shift some ranked-road designations (including routes near schools) and to examine adding more tanker capacity, contractors with earlier guaranteed availability, and sidewalk-clearing approaches, including possible contract changes or code updates on private-property snow removal obligations.

Ending

City leaders told council they will return with specifics after summer reviews: updated ranked-road proposals, procurement timelines and recommended contract terms for contractors and tanker trucks. Staff emphasized that many near-term fixes (training, contractor outreach, improved communications) are already under way and that equipment lead times and budget trade-offs will constrain the pace of change.