Snow Removal Efforts Continue

The familiar center lane of snow in many of Lamar’s roadways is being shoveled up and hauled off. With snow removal, first comes first. Get it scraped off the main roads and snow emergency routes and then deal with the secondary streets. Once that’s underway, the removal process begins.

Crews were out on west Oak Street this morning, one truck with lift blade, digging into the pile of snow in the center of the street, while three or more dump trucks are lined up waiting to be filled. It only takes about three good scoops before a truck is loaded and on its way. One drop off point being used by the city is parallel to the train tracks along West Hickory Street. Judging from the size of the pile, the process has been underway for a day or two now.

The green belt along 14th Street was a dumping point in the aftermath of the 2006-2007 holiday blizzard, as well as the open stretch of land at the intersection of West Oak and South 14th, across from the Baptist Church. The city had put out a caution warning to kids wanting to burrow into the 15 foot snow piles or ride down it on their sleighs. It wasn’t safe then, and those mounds of snow won’t be safe now. There was concern that equipment could dump a ton or two of snow on kids or a portion of the pile could collapse on them while at play.

Some local motorists have had to get used to navigating the streets that have that center snow median. You take a turn at a corner only to realize you’re on the wrong side of the road, heading into oncoming traffic. Best rule of thumb until it’s all cleared away, is to keep that center pile of snow to your left and look out for oncoming cars. Numerous fender benders have been reported by both the Lamar Police Department and Prowers County Sheriff’s office.

By Russ Baldwin