A sunny, calm day Thursday gave road crews in and around Spokane an opportunity to manage roads and streets buried under several inches of snow.
The break in the weather allowed crews to focus on plowing and sanding all “Priority One” roads in Spokane County, according to the county’s public works department. Priority One paths are emergency routes and major arterial roads. By working longer shifts, public works officials said crews also hoped to start on some of the county’s secondary arterials, called “Priority Two” roads.
Spokane County has the greatest cumulative length of unincorporated roads in the state, according to county officials – more than 5,100 miles. Plow trucks were working mainly in southwestern and eastern portions of the county Thursday afternoon.
Within the city of Spokane, road crews were in the throes of a full plow effort. Full-plow mode means crews work 24 hours a day, and personnel from water and wastewater departments are pulled in to lend a hand. Their workload included 2,200 miles of city streets.
As of late Thursday afternoon, city crews were plowing in scattered neighborhoods across Spokane, from North Indian Trail to Southgate. Hilly areas are usually plowed before flatter ground. A full-city plow can take three days, but that depends on weather conditions.
City and county road agencies had a short window to get their catch-up work done. More wintry precipitation was forecast to move through the Inland Northwest Friday and Saturday. Roads could be slick, especially Friday morning, Spokane County Public Works said.
