“At this point I’m a little more worried about ice than I am snow,” said Kevin Krall, Olympia’s street section supervisor. He said his crews planned to apply deicer Friday in preparation.
Spotty snow accumulations are possible tonight below 500 feet in elevation, according to a special weather statement from the National Weather Service. A series of frontal systems next week may also bring slight accumulations, though highs each day will be above freezing – in the upper 30s and low 40s.
Olympia rewrote its snow plan after a series of storms in 2008 brought more than a foot of snow to South Sound roads. Before, the city mostly focused on hills and bridges, Krall told the Olympia City Council this week. Olympia now lays down deicer on major roads before a winter event.
The city is increasing its deicer storage to 14,000 gallons from 4,000 gallons, he said. And the city also deploys sand and salt to improve the impact of the deicer.
Olympia has five trucks dedicated to removing snow, Krall said. Crews start by plowing primary routes, such as Harrison Avenue, Black Lake Boulevard and Martin Way. Secondary routes are plowed next – such as Mottman Road, Conger Avenue and Wiggins Road. Lastly, neighborhood streets are plowed.
Crews don’t plow downtown unless there is 6 inches of accumulation or more because there’s nowhere to put snow except for parking spaces. If there is more than 6 inches, crews will plow, and the Parks Department will help remove snow from parking spaces.
After the 2008 snow, the city also formed a committee with other jurisdictions to coordinate efforts, city spokeswoman Cathie Butler said.
Thurston County crews have spent the week getting the county’s seven plows ready, said Jack Lane, interim road operations manager. “All our deicer and stuff is all stocked and ready,” he said.
He said the brine solution used on the roads works down to about 20 or 25 degrees. At that point, only sand is effective.
Marc Lavack, operations supervisor for Tumwater, said his city has three large trucks plus a smaller rapid response vehicle. “It’s a smaller plow and truck that can make it into some of the smaller areas in the neighborhoods,” he said.
Lacey Public Works Director Scott Egger said his deicer supplies are topped and crews are ready. He said he has three large truck plows with sanders and two deicers. His crews start with the highest used roads – College Street and Martin Way – and work from there.
“With minimal amounts of snow… it will mainly be a deicing situation,” he said.
Intercity Transit reminds riders that bus service continues during snow events, but buses may be on detours. Check for updates by going to intercitytransit.com or by calling 360-786-1881.
Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869
mbatcheldor@theolympian.com
