After nearly two weeks of snow, sleet, and subfreezing temperatures, many side streets across Owensboro and Daviess County remain icy, even as main roads have largely been cleared. City and County crews say the prolonged cold has forced them to adjust how and when they respond.
City of Owensboro Public Works crews have begun salting neighborhood roads, a shift from their initial focus on priority routes designed to support emergency access and high-traffic areas.
“We just started salting side streets this morning,” Kevin Derossitt, Deputy Director of Public Works, said on Monday. “We’re going to try to hit every street. Hopefully, the combination of sun and salt will help break it up.”
Derossitt said the city’s response has involved six plows operating around the clock in 12-hour shifts. While the City normally focuses on its pre-designated priority one and two routes, crews have also been coordinating directly with Owensboro Public Schools during this prolonged weather event.
“They’ve given us some streets they’d like us to hit, and we’ve done that,” Derossitt said of the school district. “We’re trying to help them get back in school.”
Derossitt noted that side streets often aren’t plowed right away, in part to avoid pushing snow back into already-cleared driveways, and because salt is ineffective when pavement temperatures stay well below freezing.
“If it’s a normal snow, it’s gone in a few days,” he said. “But this time it’s been almost two weeks straight without getting above freezing. Once that snow gets packed down, our plows can’t do much with it.”
County road crews have also been operating around the clock, focusing on rural roads, major county corridors, and subdivisions as conditions allow. Daviess County Engineer Dirk Dooper said their response is based on a geographic routing system, with drivers assigned to zones such as Stanley, Sorgho, Utica, and Masonville. Each area is tackled as a whole, rather than by a tiered priority list.
“We try to do every road that we safely can,” Dooper said. “But there are some subdivisions where the trucks just can’t get in, especially when cars are parked on both sides of the street. We’re not going to send them in if they can’t safely make turns or avoid getting stuck.”
Dooper said much of the County’s main plowing and salting is complete, but crews are still active, shifting to tasks like clearing drainage areas to prepare for expected rainfall later in the week.
“You don’t want a subdivision to flood because a street inlet is clogged with snow,” he said. “That’s where our focus is now.”
Like Derossitt, Dooper similarly said communication with the County school district has been ongoing, and that they’ve responded to specific road requests from school officials.
“This was definitely an anomaly,” Dooper said. “You had snow, then sleet, then snow again, and then that Arctic blast that kept it all in place. Even with some compaction, we still measured close to six inches in spots. That’s a big event for this area.”
Now, both City and County officials are hopeful the forecast will finally begin to work in their favor.
“Even if it’s just 15 degrees, if the sun’s out, it helps,” Derossitt said. “We’ve done everything we can. Now we just need a little help from the weather.”
