Asheville City government offices close at noon, Public Works prepared to respond to snow

Press release from City of Asheville:

City government offices will close at noon today, Feb. 20, due to predicted snow. This includes City recreation centers. City meetings and City-sponsored programs will be cancelled as well.

As of now, ART bus service and City Sanitation service are on schedule. Once snow starts, please https://www.ashevillenc.gov/news for any updates. Information will also be posted on the City’s Facebook page and Twitter feed.

All public safety services, including police, fire and emergency response, will operate as normal  – 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Water Resources staff will be available for water-related emergencies 24 hours a day, as usual.  Customers can call the customer service line at 828-251-1122 to report water-related emergencies, leaks, breaks and no water calls.

Public Works is ready to respond

Asheville Public Works prepped all snow removal equipment on Wednesday and staff are ready to begin salting and plowing streets once accumulation begins today.

All Streets Division trucks are equipped to double as plows and salt spreaders and ready to respond when the storm starts. The City has 4,000+ tons of salt on hand to treat roads. Salt spreaders are loaded and ready to go.

Our Streets crews will stay on the job around the clock as needed, to remove any accumulating snow, first from our priority one streets, then moving into secondary / neighborhood streets as the priority routes are cleared. Priority one roads are major routes needed for emergency response as well as streets where ART bus routes run. Streets crews will also remove snow on sidewalks in front of City-owned property.

The City’s Snow Mapper shows which roads are priority one.

Coordinated response
The City of Asheville is working in partnership with Buncombe County for a coordinated response to this snow event.

“One of my main priorities is to forge an alliance of first responders working together,” said new Buncombe Emergency Services Director Taylor Jones. “We are following the weather very closely and are working with multiple agencies across the region to coordinate readiness efforts.”

Where to find emergency information
Visit BCReady for emergency preparedness information, such as a list of emergency supplies for a preparedness kit. Scroll down the page to find emergency numbers, such as who to contact if your power goes out.

For City of Asheville emergency alerts, register for AVL Alert at this link.

Code Purple called
The Asheville Homeless Coalition has called a Code Purple for Thursday and Friday. Please encourage those who need shelter from the frigid temps to seek it! Here is a link to resources: http://bit.ly/2WrXnde.

Avoid driving in snow
As a reminder, if you do not have to drive in snow, please stay off the roads, for your own safety and that of our first responders.

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Mountain Xpress posts selected news and information of local interest as a public service for our readers. To submit press releases and other community material for possible publication, email news@mountainx.com.

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