Lewiston crews take on snow with vigilance

With more snow in the forecast, Lewiston’s public works director is confident about the condition of the community’s roads after the year’s first big winter storm.

The city followed its procedures to keep the city’s roads as safe as possible, said Dustin Johnson, Lewiston’s public works director.

The city was blanketed by snow that ranged from about an inch on Normal Hill to almost half a foot at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport.

The city’s effort succeeded even though the planning was complicated by conflicting forecasts that predicted anything from minimal accumulation to a couple of feet of snow, he said.

Most day-to-day activities continued in the city, including classes at Lewiston’s public schools.

“We still own plows,” Johnson said. “We have equipment and materials in the budget. We put (materials) down as needed to protect the public.”

The work began Tuesday and started by mobilizing the city street crew, which has about a dozen employees, Johnson said.

They use 18 pieces of equipment, not counting two pickup trucks — one for the manager and another for the foreman.

Among them are more than 10 vehicles with plows, most of which can spread sand, too.

Just before, during and after snow storms, about half of the crews cover the night shift and the other half work during the day.

Before the precipitation falls, they pretreat roads with magnesium chloride, a type of de-icer. Their work continues during the storm, cooperating with law enforcement to identify and address any spots that are particularly slippery or dangerous. And as snow accumulates, the crew follows with sand coated in de-icer.

The two types of materials get ground into the snow as vehicles drive over them, accelerating the melting of snow, especially if the sun shines as it did Wednesday, Johnson said.

“That will break (snow and ice) down,” he said. “It will eventually melt, unless it gets super cold.”

The city runs snow plows too, using larger ones for arterials and smaller ones on residential streets.

Major roads leading to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center and schools are prioritized over residential streets, he said.

Some grades, such as Fifth Street leading out of downtown, almost always have to be closed temporarily because they are just too steep for crews to be able to maintain safe conditions during storms, Johnson said.

This week the process worked well, with much of the snow dissipating from the major roads by about midday Wednesday, Johnson said.

Had the snow depth exceeded half a foot or temperatures dropped below about 10 degrees, conditions would have started to reach the stage that goes beyond what the city’s equipment, materials and personnel can handle, he said.

In upcoming days and weeks, Johnson said, the city’s vigilance will continue with crews ready to clear the streets of precipitation.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.

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The extended weather forecast can be found on Page 6A.