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Lynchburg outlines snow-removal plan after back-to-back storms; crews report 800 lane-miles plowed
Summary
Public Works Director Gaynell Hart told the City Council work session that Lynchburg activated a multi-department winter plan, pretreating roads with brine and deploying about 40 trucks per shift. Staff reported 800 lane-miles plowed, 1,800 tons of salt applied and 12,500 gallons of brine used during recent storms.
Gaynell Hart, Lynchburg’s public works director, told the City Council on Jan. 14 that the city’s snow-removal operation begins in midsummer and includes dedicated equipment checks, training and a 5,000-ton salt inventory.
“We start planning in July ... we’ve got about 5,000 tons of salt we’ve got available,” Hart said, adding that the city uses a 5,000-gallon brine maker to pretreat roads and prevent snow from freezing to pavement.
Hart described staffing and equipment challenges posed by recent storms, including many newer operators and 11 different spreader control systems across trucks. During the two recent events, she said, crews ran about 40 trucks per shift (25 with spreaders) and plowed roughly 800 lane-miles multiple times.
By Hart’s account, crews applied about 1,800 tons of salt or salt slag and 12,500 gallons of brine and logged more than 200 labor hours on street operations; those figures cover streets only and do not include the additional work to remove downed trees, clear parking lots, or support water-resources tasks. Hart also described operational trade-offs: trucks used for snow removal are sometimes pulled from leaf-collection duties, creating schedule disruption in other seasons.
Hart said the city pretreated roads the day before the first event, brought drivers in early to retrain on spreader controls, and coordinated with police, fire, water resources, airport, schools and communications. She said the city is not routinely salting residential streets and relies on abrasives where pavement becomes icy, meaning residential expectations differ from arterial treatment.
Council members thanked Hart for the response and noted that the quicker return-to-school schedule in Lynchburg compared with neighboring Bedford County reflected effective operations. Several councilors offered additional facility support for warming centers and other storm-era needs.
Hart urged residents to avoid parking in the street during snow events and to use driveways where possible to allow plows to clear travel lanes and avoid damage to vehicles. She said the city will continue to refine training and equipment planning as new staff gain experience.
