City continues to work on clearing ice from roads

While it may appear that some Cape Girardeau streets haven't been touched since the 36-hour ice-and-snow storm ended early Wednesday, the city is trying to make every road passable, public works director Tim Gramling said Thursday.

Crews have been working 12-hour shifts since noon Monday, Gramling said. Wednesday's sunny weather helped speed some melting, Gramling said, but temperatures in the mid-20s overnight caused ice-covered roads to freeze hard and made plowing almost useless.

The city has gone through half of the 1,000 tons of salt that were on hand before the storm hit, Gramling said. The city is trying to cut back on salt use due to high cost -- this year's price of $113 a ton is almost three times the historic average.

"We are just trying to be a lot smarter about it and more deliberate about it," Gramling said. "We used to be pretty aggressive. Now we are being a lot more deliberate and putting it down when and where it is actually going to do some good."

Other area cities and counties report adequate supplies of cinders, rock and sand used on their roads. And the Missouri Department of Transportation said through a spokeswoman that it has sufficient salt for its needs.

Most Cape Girardeau streets have at least one open lane and major thoroughfares have at least one lane open in both directions, Gramling said. During the sunny weather Wednesday, crews tried to switch to secondary routes to make openings that could speed melting, he said.

Overnight Wednesday to Thursday, he said, the ice froze hard at the surface and plowing became difficult, if not impossible. "There are conditions where it doesn't do any good," he said. "About all we were doing last night was putting salt out."

That was little comfort Thursday for drivers trying to navigate Broadview Street between William Street and Bloomfield Road. There was little evidence at noon that either plowing or salting had been performed on the road.

The road, which is part of the city bus route, runs past Cross Trails Medical Center and the Cape Girardeau Public Library's temporary location. The library reopened Thursday after being closed for two days.

"It is pretty treacherous," said Betty Martin, library director. "Some people are not able to get down there at all. There are huge ruts in the street, and a couple of my staff got stuck momentarily."

At My Daddy's Cheesecake, manager Susan Stanfield said customers were complaining about the lack of action on Broadview Street. She said she didn't call the city to ask for a plow because "I was told it didn't do any good to call. I realize that they have lots and lots of area to cover, but they haven't been down this one time."

To be effective when roads are caked with thick ice, salt must melt through to the pavement below. Once the salt has reached the road, it creates a layer of brine that helps separate the ice from the asphalt.

Until that is accomplished, Gramling said, plowing has little impact.

"When ice is four or more inches thick, it is really tough for it to work," he said.

Cinders, sand and small rocks are the main tools for gaining traction in ice elsewhere.

Jackson had every street plowed at least once by late Wednesday, public works director Rodney Bollinger said in a news release. Jackson uses cinders and rock and sweeps up what it can for recycling.

Cape Girardeau County Highway Department crews had opened at least one lane on 95 percent of the county roads but director Scott Bechtold said drivers should remain cautious. "We are trying to get them all broken open with at least one good lane, then go back and get another lane," he said.

In Bollinger County, six road graders have tried to break through the ice but "we have not come near getting all the roads," road department director Randy Mayfield said.

Roads in Scott City that are not blocked by downed power lines or trees are adequate for most vehicles, said public works director Jack Rasnic. Crews are removing trees to open streets, he said. "I am getting around in a two-wheel-drive vehicle and testing out what areas to hit," he said.

The staff from MoDOT's District 10 office is working out of makeshift accommodations, but that hasn't stopped crews from trying to plow the highways. More than 400 people are on road crews trying to clear the highways, but downed trees and power lines are preventing help from reaching secondary roads, spokeswoman Nicole Thieret said.

"The National Guard is out doing a lot of work to clear those routes," she said. "All we can do is ask right now that people be patient with utility companies and us and all the other people out there."

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

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