Street Department prepares for more snow to hit Southeast Idaho

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - The City of Pocatello Street Department crew says they have seen a measurable amount of precipitation each day since about Christmas. 

"Our crews have been out working pretty long hours all those days trying to remove the snow as quickly as they can," said Deputy Public Works Director Tom Kirkman.

Kirkman says the cold temperatures and the wind have also resulted in drifting issues on the city's roads. With the snow never having the chance to melt, Kirkman says getting to all the places that need assistance can be challenging. 

"When we have ongoing events for multiple days, it's very difficult to branch out into the residential areas, because we're trying to keep the arterials and the collectors open," Kirkman said.

Kirkman says they are anticipating more of the same in the upcoming days. 

"We're looking to know one to two inches potentially Monday night into Tuesday with some wind, and so the wind is really what throws a kink in it and moves that snow around," Kirkman said. "So, we'll have our crews out opening up as much as we can and try and get the accumulations pushed off to the side of the roads."

But when that snow does melt, there could be more challenges ahead. 

"We may see some elevated temperatures, so we're going to start looking at potential flooding issues," Kirkman said. "With the snow pushed onto off to the side of the road, there's potential for it to block storm drains. So, we've got crews out that are proactively looking at storm drains."

Kirkman says they are doing the best they can to help make the city's roads safe. 

"The biggest thing is just for people to be patient and slow down," Kirkman said. "I always say snow removal takes a long time, and so we'll just get there as fast as we can."