Street Department is ready for winter snows

Keeping the streets clear to travel is a priority for Nathan See, street superintendent, who said his department is ready for winter weather.

With two sanders, two snow plows, a road grader and two bins full of sand and salt, Street Department employees are ready for the snow and ice.

“We are ready,” See said, adding that someone is on call 24 hours a day, so when the ice or snow begins, Street Department personnel are called out to begin clearing streets. He said the police officer on duty usually notifies him when the snow or ice begins to fall and he calls in the staff.

“We would appreciate people not parking on the streets and moving basketball goals off the street,” See said, explaining that trying to plow snow around parked cars and basketball goals hinders clearing the roads. The car could also be blocked by snow if it is parked on the street as the snow isplowed off the center of the roadway.

“The hills and curves are a priority,” See said. Workers first clear Curtis Avenue (Arkansas Highway 94) down to Sugar Creek and up past the high school, as well as the hill on East Pickens, before going to secondary roads. Sanding the intersections is another of the priorities.

“My main concern, we look at it as an emergency situation. We want to make it possible for the ambulance to get to someone. Although people may complain about snow in their driveway, we can’t change the way we push the snow.

There’s no where else to put it,” See said.

“We can’t get out and clear every driveway,” Tommy Thompson, lead man for the Street Department, said.

Two state highways pass through town - Arkansas Highway 94 and Arkansas Highway 72. Those roads are cleared within the city limits by the Street Department. The city receives state turnback money for the Street Department.