Tri-Cities road crews battle white-outs, drifting and long hours

It’s full speed ahead for public works crews as the latest winter storm moves through the region.

In Pasco, the city restarted its 24-hour snow response with crews working 12-hour shifts as they battle to clear roadways while snow continues to fall.

Richland road crews hit the streets Sunday to clear roads for the Monday commute. As the storm lingers, crews remain focused on top priority streets — arterials and roads around schools and the hospital.

If those are passable Tuesday, road crews will focus on the residential streets scheduled for garbage collection to avoid canceling a garbage day, said Hollie Logan, the city’s spokeswoman.

Tuesday’s garbage routes are in the area of south Richland that’s west of Columbia Park Trail.

Arterial streets a priority

In Kennewick, the public works department is on a 24-hour schedule, with crews planning to work through the night.

Evelyn Lusignan, the city’s spokeswoman, said it will regroup on Tuesday to determine the next step.

The city has seven trucks, including plows and grades, to clear snow, with contractors augmenting the effort.

Kennewick applies de-icer on major arterials when major winter storms are on the way.

Lusignan reminded property owners that they’re responsible for clearing snow from sidewalks that border their homes and businesses and face potential liability for injuries if they do not.

Residents are asked to pitch in to clear off sidewalks for elderly and disabled neighbors.

Snow drifts and white-outs

In Franklin County, the public works department had four plows assigned to the Connell district and four more to Pasco. It also had seven road graders, two loaders and two rentals.

Craig Erdman, county engineer, said wind was creating drifts on all county roads Monday afternoon, As with its neighbors, county crews prioritize key arterials and schools over residential streets.

“Use extreme caution. If you don’t need to be out there, don’t be out there,” he said.

Benton County’s public works director, Matt Rasmussen, said the county had 12 snow plows, four motor graders and a snow blower in the field, but blowing wind made it challenging.

“Right now, by the time we finish a pass on the road, most of what we just did is already covering up again,” he said.

Crews begin work at 4:30 a.m. and are working 12- to 14-hour days.

The blowing wind and whiteout conditions prompted the county to close roads north of Prosser and south of Kiona-Benton City.

Evans Road, which roughly parallels Interstate 82 north of Prosser, was closed as were all the county roads to the north of it Monday.

South of Kiona-Benton City, Webber Canyon Road, Sellards Road, Badger Canyon Road and Locus Grove Road were closed.

Workers were putting up road barriers to alert drivers to the closures.

The county planned to reopen roads when conditions improved. In the interim, consult the county’s online road closure map for the most current information, at bit.ly/BentonCountySnowRoadClosures

This story was originally published February 25, 2019 at 5:09 PM.