City working to keep roads clear

ZANESVILLE, Ohio- As Mother Nature continues to dump snow on the area leaving the roads a slippery mess many are questioning if the City is doing enough to keep the roads safe.

Jay Bennett, the Public Service Director for the City, agrees with Sheriff Lutz that people should stay off the streets if possible. Bennett says crews have been working around the clock since the first snowfall on Friday. He says one issue crews have faced as they’ve tried treating the roads is too many people on them.

“What happened was the snow was so wet which in most cases helps us. We had a lot of people out Friday night. Running four wheelers. We had people weaving around our trucks. So it became problematic for us to be able to do the work and for our crews. But then we saw on side streets was people started running before we got there as we were focusing on those main streets.”

Bennett said the crews are prepared to handle any other snow that may come this week. He also said the crews are looking ahead to the better weather expected this week and the challenges that will bring for the roads.

“Which is going to present a whole other issue for public works crews which is storm drains. We have got to be able to cut those back on the side streets where we know we have critical infrastructure issues where flooding can happen if we don’t get those drains open.”

As for the salt used to treat the roads, Bennett says the city has plenty. He says there is still salt left over from last winter and more will be delivered sometime this week.