Asheville Public Works pre-treating streets in advance of winter storm

Asheville Public Works trucks have already begun pre-treating streets in Asheville with salt brine as the City prepares for oncoming snow.

The National Weather Service   has now issued a Winter Storm Watch for the area starting 6pm Saturday.  The Weather Service’s website says: “Precipitation may begin as early as Saturday afternoon across parts of the mountains, eventually falling as mostly snow and increasing in coverage and intensity late Saturday night. Widespread black ice should be expected Monday morning, and may be a concern into the middle of the week.”

The Public Works Department continues its proactive approach to this forecast.  Pre-treatment of sidewalk areas bordering City property is also taking place. This includes, but is not limited to: City Hall,  the Municipal Building housing first responders, Pack Square, Pritchard Park and Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville.

“Our staff is steadily preparing our equipment to begin snow removal operations when needed,” said Public Works Director Greg Shuler. “We have plenty of salt, our staffing levels are in good shape, and our equipment is ready to go.”

Street crews are scheduled to report as the predicted storm moves in Saturday  and will be prepping and plowing streets as conditions require. Staffing will continue on a 24-hour basis throughout the storm event.

Please clear the streets so snow plows can get through

The City asks everyone to limit on-street parking during any snow event! This is extremely helpful to our
ability to clear streets more efficiently.

City garages in the Central Business District will be opened to the public free, likely around 5 p.m., depending on when the snow moves in. This is in effort to  allow salting and snow plows clear access. Everyone is asked to please ensure their vehicles are off the streets so our teams are able to continually clear roadways of snow build up or other weather related hazards.

For everyone’s safety, please limit travel and stay off the road during snow events if possible. Hazardous travel conditions could continue through Monday.

Clearing Priority One streets first 

Once snow starts, City Streets crews will stay on the job around the clock as needed, to remove any accumulating snow, first from our priority one streets, then moving into secondary / neighborhood streets as the priority routes are cleared. Priority one roads are major routes needed for emergency response as well as streets where ART bus routes run. Streets crews will also remove snow on sidewalks in front of City-owned property. 

The City’s Snow Mapper shows which roads are priority one.

The City of Asheville maintains approximately 4oo miles of roads, which translates into 805 lane miles. During snow events, Public Works removes snow from 180 centerline miles of priority one streets, 318 centerline miles of priority two streets, which adds up to about 400 miles, including 87 miles of NCDOT-maintained roads.

In case of power outages and downed trees

Duke Energy will provide additional updates once storms move out of the area and damage assessment is underway. See the outage map at www.duke-energy.com/outages.

To receive the most up-to-date information about restoration efforts by enrolling in Outage Alerts. If customers lose power, they can text OUT to 57801, report online, or call 800-419-6356.

Duke Energy warns people to stay away from downed power lines.

If a you encounter a fallen or leaning tree resting on a power line, call Duke Energy Progress at 1-800-419-6356 or 1-800-452-2777.

For a downed tree not involving power lines, blocking a road in the City limits, call Asheville Public Works at 828-259-5852.

Pulling together as a community

We want to encourage everyone in our community to prepare personally and come together to look after their neighbors as well.

If you have regular medical appointments critical to your health, then please make sure you have a snow plan in case travel becomes hazardous. In the event of a medical emergency, call 9-1-1. For information on available resources call 2-1-1.

UPDATE: Parks facilities will close at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 15

Please check back as City of Asheville winter storm response information will  be updated.