People chapped at poor response to frozen roads

As I write this, AR Highway 201 South appears to be thawing a bit, six days after a winter storm brought almost all of Baxter County to a standstill. In what seems to be the case on almost all the state highways in the county, Highway 201, south and north, largely went untouched since it froze over last Thursday.

I can’t say Highway 201 South was completely untouched because it appeared at some point Thursday or Friday a blade had scraped a little from the top of the accumulation of sleet, ice and snow. Since then, however, like many other highways in the county it has remained covered with no other apparent attempts to clear it. From where I live near Shady Grove all the way to U.S. Highway 62 through the middle of Mountain Home, the entire road has been one giant, frozen, pocked mess that makes unmaintained roads far back in the hills seem like thoroughfares.

I’m not criticizing the work crews. On all levels, they’ve worked long hours day and night on roads in the worst of this mess, and I commend them for their efforts. They’re doing what they can with what they have.

Here at Sixth and Hickory, we’ve heard of equipment problems, broken-down trucks and road trucks getting stuck themselves. Questions have arisen if there was enough road equipment on hand to deal with the situation, or if the proper equipment was on hand, questions that remain relevant for the future. County Judge Mickey Pendegrass says the county’s used about 75 percent of its salt mixture for helping clear roads, which makes me wonder what he’s going to do for the rest of the winter, especially if it turns out as bad as anticipated.

It’s not as if the storm suddenly appeared from nowhere without warning. Everyone across northern Arkansas and southern Missouri knew it was coming. Weather forecasters told us for days this front was on its way and bringing severe conditions with it. The closer it got, the worse the forecasts grew. So, there was plenty of time for road crews to prepare, to get equipment, materiel and personnel ready to face it head-on. A good number of Twin Lakes Area residents, remembering the devastation of the ice storm of ’09, certainly prepared for it when they stripped store shelves of bread, milk and other supplies, such as gasoline for generators.

As the storm arrived Thursday, with days of advance warning, there appeared to be plenty of efforts to salt, sand, or otherwise prep streets, roads and highways when the sleet began. Unfortunately, the storm overwhelmed that effort. Sleet and snow falling Friday hampered clearing efforts since it just piled up behind blade trucks and graders that were running, sometimes making the roads worse than they were in the first place.

The precipitation stopped by the weekend, but road conditions didn’t get any better, at least in Baxter County. Marion County roads and state highways were cleared to the Baxter County line. (Marion County Judge Terry Ott said if a state highway was on his road crews’ way to county roads they’d “drop a blade” and clear it as well the county roads.) U.S. Highway 62 was cleared in Fulton County to the Baxter County line. Highways 201 and 101 in Missouri were cleared to the Arkansas/Baxter County line.

Why did highways maintained by the state in Baxter County remain buried in ice when the same roads leading to our county lines, and even the state line, were cleared? A spokesman for the Arkansas Highways and Transportation Department admitted the storm “got ahead” of them. It certainly did, and they didn’t catch up.

Mr. Pendergrass said people want instant gratification these days —which I agree with to some degree —but if they have no idea when or if their roads are going to be cleared (with an emphasis on “their” roads) folks are going to be disgruntled. It’s the same with city streets and state highways. Telling people “Be patient” only goes so far.

If at least it’s not snowing, sleeting or raining, people expect to see progress on clearing roads. Through much of the county, especially on the state-maintained highways, people didn’t see any progress Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. People saw opportunities to clear roads being missed before what little melted during the day refroze at night, maintaining a vicious cycle.

Perception is the key to many things, and the perception residents of Baxter County have —based on their personal observations —is the overall official response to a winter storm for which there was ample advance warning has been poor.

State Sen. Johnny Key has suggested an “after action” meeting of officials involved in dealing with the storm to determine what went right and what went wrong. I think it’s a good idea. I also think it would be a good opportunity for them to figure out how to better coordinate clearing efforts in the future, and especially how they can help each other instead of just dealing with their own turf.

It also would be a good time to better explain priorities to the people. Let them know which highways, roads and streets get top priority for clearing, which are next in priority and which are at the bottom of the chain. They need to say more than “primary and secondary” roads, too; they need to be specific as to which highways, roads and streets will get attention and in what order. I realize conditions will dictate priority, but no doubt there’s a particular pecking order.

They all also need to keep the public informed of what they’re doing, where they’re working and where they’ll be next. Sure, everyone is busy, but it doesn’t take long for someone to pick up a phone to call the newspaper and radio stations, or send an email, or to post a notice on social media so the people, the taxpayers, know what’s happening.

Maybe the next time we get a big storm like this, they’ll be better prepared to deal with it and to deal with the public they serve.