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Athens Snow Plows Work To Clear Snow
By: Bianca Hillier
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A winter storm has hit Athens County, laying down up to seven inches of snow and making roadways dangerous.
The snow started to fall early Sunday evening and plows crews have been hard at work since clearing the snowy roads, or at least, clearing them as much as they can.
The city of Athens put all five of their snow plows out around 8 p.m. last night.
Andy Stone, the city engineer and director of Public Works in Athens, says crews have used around 150 tons of salt on this snow event alone to combat the ice-snow mix.
"We are being sparing with the salt because we don't have much of it. We only have about 200 tons left, which is a pretty low amount, relative to the significant snowfall we've received," Stone said.
The shortage of salt is in part due to the amount of extreme winter weather Athens has had this season. Part of it, however, is due to the salt supply company, Morton Salt, being overwhelmed by demand.
"We have ordered more salt but we are not sure when or if we will get it," Stone said. "They have gotten to the point where every municipality and ODOT is calling and ordering salt, so they let you leave a message and will bring it you as soon as they can."
He says this kind of service is not uncommon when winter weather is this severe across such a broad region. By now most roads have been plowed, but crews are still working to plow all of the side roads.
Stone recommends that people "stay inside today and don't go out unless you have to." Stone says cars with four wheel drive and front wheel drive, however, will not have as many problems trekking through the snow.