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Last updated on Wednesday, January 24, 2018
(BEDFORD) - The final days of December and first two weeks of January pushed a mix of wintery weather in Lawrence and the surrounding counties.
Lawrence County Highway crews spent numerous hours attempting to keep the roads clear in hazardous conditions.
"This type of weather puts our drivers in serious danger trying to stay out of ditches and on the roadways," says Commissioner President Rodney Fish.
Not only are the conditions dangerous, clearing roadways is expensive.
Highway Superintendent David Holmes says that so far this season Lawrence County has had 5 snow events. The total cost for those five events has been $117,205. Of that amount, $84,630 was in materials, $7,930 was in fuel and $24,645 was in overtime pay. Those figures do not include upkeep on the equipment and towing bills for those drivers that got stuck in ditches.
"It is a trying time," says Holmes. "The drivers did an outstanding job with what we were faced with. Some of the public understands, while others don't. When we are hit like we were with freezing ice and snow and temperatures below zero there is not much we can do. I want to thank the public for understanding and apologize to those who don't understand. We did the best we could do under the conditions."
Crews used a mixture of 25 percent salt and 75 percent sand to treat the roadways.
"The sand is not that expensive, but the salt is," he added.
Sheriff Mike Branham and Emergency Management Director Valerie Luchauer worked together with Holmes to keep the public informed and the commissioners alerted on road conditions and the commissioners placed the county under an Orange Travel Status when the roads became dangerous limiting it to only essential travel.
"We want to thank the public for heeding the warnings and staying off the roadways," Sheriff Branham added. "We didn't see the number of accidents we could have because people stayed home."
Now that those snow events are over, highway crews are patching potholes.
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