Craighead County, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Progress continues on clearing snow- and ice-covered roads in Craighead County in the aftermath of this weekend’s winter storm.
Steve Tippitt, Jonesboro Street Department superintendent, said work has begun on some secondary roads in Jonesboro. When clearing roads, primary routes, which are the most highly trafficked routes, are cleared first, before crews move to secondary and tertiary routes.
Tippitt explained that crews have been working on some secondary routes at night.
| READ MORE: Crews working to clear Craighead County roads after winter weather
“We actually have [started] working on some of the secondaries at night when it gets so cold that we’re not doing no good on the slushy areas [on primary routes],” he said. “We’re getting the secondaries and trying to get the tops knocked off to get it thinner and where some of the sun will help us get it melted off. When the main areas get cold, we’re not doing no good, so, we are working kind of in between both right now.”
Tippitt added that crews were still working on clearing lingering ice on primary routes. He said Main Street, Caraway Road, Patrick Street, and North Culberhouse Street “were in pretty good shape,” but more shaded areas on Huntington and Washington avenues still had a “few bad spots” the department was working to clear.
Craighead County Judge Marvin Day said crews were also working on shaded roads in the county, which can hinder natural ice melting. He added that crews were working on clearing “trouble spots” on both primary and secondary roads.
“Just a few more trouble spots on the secondaries that we’ve got, and then we’re just taking calls for residents and working trouble calls [is] where we’re at,” Day said. “It’s going pretty well; the guys have done a good job.”
Day said if there was an area workers needed to attend to, rural Craighead County residents could call the county road department at (870) 933-4510.
Tippitt said lingering cold temperatures were still making it difficult to clear roads due to the refreezing at night, although he added that this week’s sunshine has helped melt the precipitation.
He explained the goal was to continue working on clearing primary roads, followed by secondary when time allowed, and that crews had been working 12-hour shifts since Friday, Jan. 23.
“We’ll stay on 12 hours till we get it mostly cleared,” he said. “Everybody bear with us. We’re doing the best we can, and we’ll get it off as quick as we can.”
For those needing to drive, drive slower and avoid sudden acceleration, braking, or steering. Increase the distance between yourself and other motorists, and slow down much earlier than normal, especially when approaching bridges, intersections, and entrance and exit ramps.
To check the latest road conditions, check IDriveArkansas.com. To activate the winter weather layer on the IDriveArkansas website or app, click the snowflake icon.
