MARYSVILLE — Two days after the first snow of the winter fell on itsstreets, the city of Marysville had resolved most of the issues stemming from the snowfall, according to officials.
As of 8 a.m. on Nov. 24, all major and minor arterials were passable within the city, thanks to city street crews heading out at 4 a.m. that day to apply sand and de-icer to bridge decks, intersections, and major and minor arterials in advance of that morning’s commuter traffic. Street crews also applied sand and de-icer to roads in the Lakewood Crossing shopping area and other locations that were deemed likely to experience high volumes of traffic related to pre-Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping.
According to city of Marysville Public Information Officer Doug Buell, city street crews applied 200 tons of sand and related materials to roughly 30 miles of primary and secondary arterials. The city will be able to reclaim 80 percent of that sand and those other materials spread on roadways for re-use when street sweepers pick it up on future runs, thereby saving taxpayers’ money.
Marysville Police Cmdr. Robb Lamoureux explained that the only types of service calls that increased in number in the wake of the snowfall were driving-related, including collisions, traffic hazards, and abandoned and stranded vehicles. From the morning of Nov. 22 through noon on Nov. 24, the Marysville Police Department responded to 65 vehicle collisions.
“This is significantly more than we would be called to during a non-inclement weather, two-and-half-day stretch,” Lamoureux said. “There are days that our department will handle two or three collisions in a single day. We averaged 26 collisions per day during this bad weather.”
In spite of incidents which included a 12-car pileup on Ingraham Boulevard, only a few minor injuries were reported at any of the collisions, and fewer still required any type of transport for medical attention, due to the slow speeds of the vehicles involved. The weather also rendered a number of vehicles immobile at locations that caused other vehicles to back up behind them, creating even more congestion on the main arterials.
“When this type of weather occurs, we truly would like to see people not venture out in their cars, but when it’s unavoidable, people need to slow way down,” Lamoureux said. “Accept the fact that it’s going to take you much longer than usual to get home, and slow down to increase your chances of getting home safely, without damage to your vehicle as a result of an accident. Unfortunately, we have drivers who continue to try to drive the speed limit even when the driving conditions dictate otherwise.”
How would you rate the snow removal in Marysville?survey software
