Following a myriad of sustained difficult road and weather conditions, as well as some public consternation, officials with Christian County, City of Hopkinsville and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 2 conducted a post-evaluation reaction review Friday morning — in hopes of “hot washing” how the last two weeks have transpired.
Judge-Executive Jerry Gilliam reiterated that January 23-26 was very clearly a “very different storm” for south western Kentucky, and that a combination of factors eventually led to some perceived local and regional delays.
The top priorities for the county, he said were “absolute protection of life and public safety,” “maintain access for emergency services,” and to “clear and treat roadways to a greater extent when possible.”
County roads, he added, county as any roads without a painted center line, except for part of Lovers Lane — which is maintained by four different entities — and part of Hugh Hunter Road in Oak Grove.
Their responsibility is 460 miles of pavement, and Gilliam said they used seven drivers to eventually spread more than 1,100 tons of salt — including 300-to-400 that Friday before the storm arrived.
All drivers practice designated routes in the off-season, in order to create best passage routes and logistical pathways, and the use of two road graders and a front-loading tractor/greater “served well.”
At present, Gilliam confirmed more than 615.5 hours of overtime have been authorized for the Christian County Road Department and its 11 employees. No expense, no resource spared.
Hopkinsville Mayor J.R. Knight called this stretch “a rough couple weeks,” and that daily conversations with school officials brought forth equal desires to get back to normal.
Knight added that Hopkinsville Public Works Director Mike Perry “lived and breathed it these last two weeks,” and Perry also called this a “non-normal winter event.”
The reason: a historic combination of freezing rain, snow and sleet for Christian County created “snowcrete” — a repeating freeze-and-thaw of winter precipitation that’s nearly impossible to remove.
In the city limits, Perry said they used more than 1,600 tons of salt on 368 lane miles, and of that, 250 tons were pre-treatment efforts held the prior Thursday and Friday.
More than 1,200 gallons of salt brine were spilled, too, and as of Friday, more than 480 hours of overtime have been approved for 12 truck crews — nine that had salt spreaders with plows, and three with a plow only.
Deneatra Henderson, KYTC District 2 chief district engineer, took the podium again less than two weeks after answering a summons from the Christian County Fiscal Court, and noted that all state-maintained routes were pre-treated prior to the blast.
More than 60,000 gallons were spilled, with some byways getting two layers, but that it took three full days to hit every route in Christian County.
She once again noted that Christian County has 18 KYTC dump trucks, and that two of the district’s three tow plows operate specifically on I-24.
When those went down, she said the crew still had to work through 1,200-plus lane miles, including seven lanes of traffic near Oak Grove, and that up to this point, more than 5,100 tons of salt have been spilled by 25 full-time employees and 1,185 hours overtime — not including other counties who have now come to assist.
As for contract trucks in Christian County? Those, she said, no longer exist.
Gilliam said there do need to be some areas of improvement, namely in communications.
From a county perspective, he said he would take the blame on waiting “too long” before road graders went out, but he was hesitant because they “notoriously destroy asphalt.” Having to do it again, he noted they should have been out “earlier, as the ice arrived.”
Furthermore, Gilliam noted that the county “isn’t really set up” for brine efforts, and that installing a “pre-wet” system on all salt trucks may be a measure ahead.
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