DPW clearing streets ahead of morning commute
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Local department of public works crews are planning a full call-out Wednesday evening to treat roads for the Thursday morning commute.
But the roads weren’t pretreated because of morning and afternoon rain.
“We don’t pretreat the roads simply because the salt doesn’t adhere to the pavement and it would simply wash away,” said Jennifer Hashem, the spokeswoman for Indianapolis Department of Public Works.
She said laying salt would’ve been a waste of resources.
“I grew up in Michigan, so this is really nothing to me. So far they’re really getting it up there, so as long as they can get to the roads and salt them then we should be good to go,” driver Lorrie Mamlin said of the snow that eventually fell Wednesday evening.
Hashem said 96 crews will work on 12-hour shifts beginning Wednesday night.
“They’ll work through those overnight hours for the morning commute just to keep roads clear as people are heading to work and school and then again at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning,” she said.
DPW has 17,000 tons of salt on hand.
Their plan has mixed reviews.
“They do what they can, but they can do more, especially on these side streets where kids have to catch the bus and go to school,” said Sheila Harding, who lives downtown.
INDOT officials also said they haven’t pretreated the highways because it would’ve just washed away. As snow begins to fall, they say they will adjust crews to where they are needed most.
INDOT will have about 60 crews out overnight and for the morning commute. The majority of crews will be north and west of the city.WEATHER RESOURCES