Winter storm took lots of work

Last week’s ice and snow storms kept the city street department workers busy around the clock.

Bella Vista communications manager Cassi Lapp said that the city’s street crews put in long hours trying to clear 550 miles of road, divided into eight zones across the city, as the snow continued to fall.

“It was a three-part event, really, with the ice and two snowstorms. They didn’t really get a break,” she said.

Lapp explained that the initial ice storm was the hardest part because the sun refused to come out, which meant that, even with treatment, the ice was unlikely to go anywhere.

“We could treat the roads but the ice wasn’t melting,” she said. “The salt just kind of sits there.”

Once the snow started, it posed a new challenge because it kept falling all night. Workers could plow and spread the city’s sandsalt mixture, but it took longer because the snow continued to accumulate and undo prior work.

“Since it just kept snowing overnight … that lane they had just plowed was covered with snow already,” Lapp said.

While workers are out trying to make roads navigable, that often doesn’t mean a road is going to look utterly pristine because one can’t plow all the way down to the pavement, she added.

As the storm tapered off, roads became increasingly clear and, by Friday, there was almost no hazard.

“Our guys did a really great job,” Lapp said.

The city hasn’t seen any major damage to its facilities as a result of the storm, she said, aside from a pipe bursting at the Community Development Services office, which resulted in a late opening.