After saying Emporia’s Public Works Department won’t go back into residential areas to reduce the snowpack affecting side streets for nearly three weeks, the city now says it will treat streets as needed until conditions improve.
The city had spent extra time in residential areas Jan. 15-17, doing its best to shrink the snowpack through blading and treatment materials. The snowpack was modestly impacted by those efforts and high temperatures in the 30s and 40s. The city then halted its residential work this past weekend into early this week with sharply colder conditions keeping the snowpack in place.
The snowpack is the direct result of between 0.25-0.50 inches of ice, 5-plus inches of snow and bitterly cold air Jan. 4-5, followed by 2-3 inches of snow Jan. 9-10.
7:30 pm Wednesday: City ends push to clear snow-covered residential streets
Emporia Public Works spent part of last week trying to clear and treat residential streets after snowfall earlier this month. That effort is now over.
Public Works Director Dean Grant confirmed the end of that aspect of the city’s snow removal efforts Wednesday, a week after the city started going into residential neighborhoods, hoping to break a stubborn snowpack from Jan. 4-5. In many areas, the snowpack — the result of between 0.25-0.50 inches of ice, 5-plus inches of snow and bitterly cold air Jan. 4-5, followed by 2-3 inches of snow Jan. 9-10 — failed to budge despite blading work, treatment materials and high temperatures in the 30s and 40s.
Grant has not said why the city decided against another round of treatment and clearing work.
