With freezing temperatures and potentially hazardous conditions forecasted, Eugene Public Works is prepared for the worst.
On Monday, December 5, maintenance crews spent the morning deicing several bridge decks where ice had started to form. There were no significant crashes reported, but crews didn’t want to take any chances.
Ahead of these storm systems, Public Works outfitted more than half a dozen vehicles with specialized equipment to help respond in the event of snow or ice. Crews could also add additional resources to the fleet if the weather conditions worsened. Currently the maintenance staff have more than 4,000 gallons of deicer in storage and about 500 yards of sand at their disposal.
As of last week, the National Weather Service (NWS) was calling for snow on the valley floor, however conditions have appeared to have warmed. The NWS is still forecasting a chance of snow for Wednesday night and the possibility of freezing rain on Thursday morning.