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Clarksville Street Department prepared for Winter Storm

Fleet of 30 trucks ready to spread salt, clear roadways

City of Clarksville - Clarksville, TNClarksville, TN – The Clarksville Street Department on Thursday prepared its equipment and workforce to battle the wintry mix of ice and snow forecast to hit the area on Friday morning.

Scott Bibb, Street Department Operations Manager, said Thursday that the department has 24 dump trucks fitted with snow plows and salt boxes, and six lighter trucks with similar equipment, ready to hit the streets Friday morning, as necessary.

Clarksville City Hall
Clarksville City Hall

The National Weather Service issued a Winter Storm Watch, indicating a system will move in Friday morning, bringing rain that will turn into a mix of freezing rain and sleet around sunrise, and then to snow by mid morning, with snow lasting into Friday evening. Ice accumulations up to one-tenth of an inch, with snow accumulations up to 4 inches, are possible.

“Because the storm is expected to start with rain, this will be a salt-only event, and no brine will be spread because it would be washed away and wasted,” Bibb said.

The Street Department has about 10,000 tons of salt on hand to distribute on City streets as required. Salt is stored at the Street Department Headquarters on Tenth Street, at a facility in St. Bethlehem, and at a smaller depot on Ringgold Road in North Clarksville.

In Clarksville, most of the main roads — Wilma Rudolph Boulevard, Madison Street and Fort Campbell Boulevard, for example — are state highways, with snow removal managed by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. (TDOT)

Regional TDOT equipment first deploys to clear Interstate 24 and then moves to state highways.

The Clarksville Street Department focuses first on City thoroughfares and hilly areas, and then spreads its efforts to subdivisions and residential streets.

“We’ve done this before, so we have a plan,” Bibb said. “Each driver has a route to cover, so we spread our 30 trucks across the City. We get to the heavily traveled and most troublesome spots first.”

Clarksville Transit System will continue its regular route service for as long as possible, but if road conditions worsen, it will implement a “snow routes” plan, whereby buses avoid hilly areas and stay on the main roads.

Director Arthur Bing Sr. said CTS will give one-hour advance notice of any changes in service during the weather event, and riders should check www.rideCTS.com or the CTS Facebook page for updates.

Clarksville Fire Rescue was busy Thursday topping off fuel to emergency power generators and shifting manpower to its fleet of rescue trucks. “We staff up our rescue vehicles during this kind of bad weather, so we can cut down on the number of vehicles we have to put on the road to respond to accidents and crashes,” Fire Chief Mike Roberts said.

Jim Knoll, Clarksville Police Public Information Officer, said police anticipate more crashes and snarled traffic during a winter storm, so CPD will have extra manpower assigned to provide traffic control and assistance.

“Our best advice during snow and ice is pretty simple,” Knoll said. “If possible, stay home and don’t get out on the roads.

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