We got slush!

From Eugene Public Works, the latest on road conditions as of 3 pm today, Dec. 10:

Eugene motorists on Tuesday picked their way along a wintery mix of road conditions that included some areas of bare pavement, lots of packed snow and ice, and — for the first time since the snowstorm last Friday — slush.

“It’s great that we’re seeing some breakup of the snow pack,” said Public Works Incident Commander Chris Girard. “But it also brings a new challenge, which is sheet ice if the snow melts and then refreezes overnight.”

Public Works crews have been working around the clock since early Friday morning. Today, a combination of plows, sanders and deicers were on the roads, making the most of the small window of opportunity that slightly warmer temperatures has opened. However, with overnight lows expected to be 20 degrees of less, crews today and again tonight will use sand and liquid deicer to get roads ready for Wednesday morning’s commute.

Since Dec. 6, Public Works has applied approximately 625 cubic yards of sand and 3,100 gallons of liquid deicer and logged 1,250 personnel hours responding to the storm. Total response expenditures to date exceed $90,000.

Members of Eugene Public Works incident command staff met today with school district officials to identify key bus routes if schools are open tomorrow. The ice-snow emergency parking ban remains in effect and will continue to be evaluated on a day-to-day basis.

Public Works crews also have been working to clear sidewalk access ramps s in the downtown area and sidewalks in front of City buildings. Property owners citywide are responsible for keeping sidewalks safe adjacent to their property. Similar to street conditions, in areas of heavy foot traffic the snow has been compacted into an icy mass that can be very difficult to remove with a hand shovel.

For additional information about the ice-snow emergency, go to www.eugene-or.gov/snow. To report hazardous situations in the public rights of way, call 682-4800 or online at www.eugene-or.gov/pwservice. Requests for service will be responded to based on public safety priorities and availability of resources.

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