Thousands in the region remained in their homes Tuesday as road crews continued to plow roads in the region.
A winter snow storm on Saturday and Sunday dumped more than 10 inches on the region, forcing Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, schools and most businesses to close.
Workers in charge of snow removal in area cities say they’re working around the clock to remove snow from highways and neighborhoods alike, but the challenge ahead in the next several days will be maintaining clearance amid high winds and low temperatures.
In the meantime, they’re asking motorists to drive slowly and be mindful.
“Give them the space that they need to do the work that they’re doing. They’re not always driving the same speed you are,” said Montgomery County Engineer Andrew Shahan. “So acknowledge that when you’re driving around them.”
Dayton
After working through the weekend, Dayton had more than 40 plows out on the roads Tuesday.
Crews divided the city’s 1,700 miles of center lane miles of roadway into three priority levels, starting off with highways and main thoroughfares, streets bordering hospitals and schools and portions of U.S. Rt. 35 and State Rt. 4 that fall within city limits.
The city’s central business district in downtown Dayton was also among the first areas plowed in the city, with workers removing piles of snow from the downtown area through Monday.
The second priority area for plowing was secondary and collector streets — roadways that lead traffic from residential streets to more heavily traveled paths.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
As of Monday afternoon, main roads were passable, with some lane narrowing.
Road crews were expected to move on to clearing off residential roads, the third priority, on Monday afternoon and will continue that work this week, according to a city spokesperson.
“We understand residents are eager to see residential streets cleared, and we appreciate your patience as crews work through the storm,” the city shared on its social media accounts.
Kettering
Kettering Public Works Director Dave Duritsch said with the historic snowfall and frigid temperatures, snow removal was moving “slowly but steadily.”
“We ask for residents’ patience as crews continue to work 12-hour shifts to treat and clear the entire city,” Duritsch said.
During a snow event, the city asks for residents’ patience as crews work through the priority route levels. The city’s goal is to have all roadways (in a snow event with over 2 inches of accumulation) treated and plowed within 30 hours after snow stops falling, according to the city’s website.
Oakwood
Due to severe winter weather, Oakwood administrative offices and the Oakwood Community Center were closed Monday and all programs were canceled.
Essential services remain operational, and residents were advised to stay off roads if possible.
Miamisburg
Miamisburg workers have completed plowing the main roads and are currently applying more salt while attending to the side streets, according to a statement from the city.
“We understand that many residents have inquiries regarding the snow plowing procedures. Please be aware that our teams are working tirelessly to ensure our streets remain passable and safe for everyone,” the city’s statement reads.
Clearing cul-de-sacs of snow is a challenge for crews, and residents living in cul-de-sacs are encouraged to remove cars from the roadway to help snow plows work.
Residents are also reminded to clear sidewalks.
“Please remember that we are all facing the same conditions due to this significant snowstorm affecting the Miami Valley. Please be patient and do whatever you can to assist your neighbor,” the city’s statement reads.
Montgomery County
The Montgomery County Engineer’s Office clears off 320 miles of county roadways. Shahan said his office has 21 routes with designated drivers. His crew was out at 8 p.m. on Saturday to begin clearing off snow, with workers taking on 16-hour shifts.
Shahan told this news outlet Monday afternoon that county roads were crossable.
“We didn’t go home until we knew that every road was passable with a minimum of a single lane,” he said.
But engineer’s office trucks are expected to hit the road again Monday night to maintain cleared-off roads ahead of expected traffic Tuesday morning, as many Montgomery County residents return to their workplaces.
“We’ve cleared them sufficiently and they’re good for vehicular traffic. At this point, we’re going to maintain and kind of widen out the area that we’ve cleared, the work that was done over the last two days,” he said.
But road crews could be fighting the winter storm over the next few days if winds drift snow back over the roadways on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Springboro
All main roads in Springboro including state Routes 73 and 741 were almost completely cleared and passable by 10 a.m. Monday, according to City Manager Chris Pozzuto. All neighborhoods in the city were plowed at least once between 5 p.m. Saturday and midnight Sunday.
Pozzuto said the decision was made to carve a path in the middle of residential roads instead of clearing them fully as they typically do because of the amount of snowfall.
“We made the decision to only carve a path in the middle of many roads because if we would have gone curb to curb, there would have been 6 feet of snow in front of driveways,” Pozzuto said. “The way we plowed, we left much less than that to try and assist people so they didn’t have to dig out as much.”
Franklin
City of Franklin Public Works Director Steve Inman said most of the main roads in Franklin had been cleared down to the blacktop by midday Monday.
Street crews were directed to focus efforts on side streets in subdivisions until they are cleared.
Inman said he is concerned about the freezing temperatures and remaining salt levels as they try to finish clearing the streets.
Temperatures below 15 degree diminish the effectiveness of salt on the roads.
So far this season, Inman said, Franklin as used about 537 tons of salt and has about 900 tons remaining.
The city maintains about 110 miles of roads.
Warren County
Warren County Engineer Kurt Weber said the biggest problem facing crews over the weekend was where to put all the snow.
“With the volume of snow we got, 2 or 3 feet of snow is in the ditches already,” Weber said. “The roads are passable but snow-covered for sure.”
Parts of the county received more than a foot of snow between Saturday afternoon and Sunday night, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
County crews are spending Monday widening the initial paths they carved to allow more than one car to pass at a time.
The main focus has been on southern Warren County’s heaviest-traveled roads, Mason-Montgomery and Fields Ertel, which serve 40,000 to 45,000 vehicles per day. Both roads had multiple lanes cleared by Monday’s commute remained slow.
Weber said he thinks things would be “much better” by Monday night.
He said now road crews will have to deal with the biting cold that came in behind the storm.
High temperatures in the region are forecast to be in the teens and single digits through the week, with lows falling below 0.
Sydney Dawes, Michael Kurtz and Samantha Wildow contributed to this report.
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