Corridor public works crews tackle 'a typical winter storm'

JOHNSON COUNTY — Four stranded motorists — including a pregnant woman and her two-year-old child — were rescued by Johnson County sheriff's deputies Sunday evening.

According to Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek, at 6:33 p.m. Sunday, the sheriff's office took a report of two stranded vehicles on 540th Street, just east of Sand Road. Pulkrabek said 540th Street is a Level B service road, meaning it receives less maintenance than other county roads.

Pulkrabek said deputies responded to the stuck vehicles with a snowmobile. One vehicle was occupied by a pregnant woman, who was due to have her baby in four days, and her two-year-old. The second vehicle was occupied by two men who tried to help the woman and her child, but got stuck as well.

The woman was heading toward the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center and was mistakenly sent down 540th Street by her GPS, Pulkrabek said.

'It is unknown why they were trying to get to the animal shelter on a Sunday evening during a snowstorm,' Pulkrabek said in a news release.

The responding deputies took the stranded motorists back to Sand Road and they were given rides back to their residences, Pulkrabek said. While the sheriff's office has used snowmobiles for more than 30 years, they are used infrequently, Pulkrabek said.

While Sunday's rescue represented a rare event for the sheriff's office, officials who responded to the storm said it represented a fairly routine event, albeit one with a little more snow than normal.

Johnson County's entire fleet of 19 trucks and 10 motor graders were out in full force early Saturday and Sunday mornings to clear the county's rural roads.

County Engineer Greg Parker said, despite seeing nearly a foot of snow, the crews had little trouble getting the job done.

'Certainly 12 inches of snow is something that my staff and this department can handle with relative ease,' he said. 'It's a typical winter storm for us.'

Unlike city crews who can work late thanks to the added visibility of streetlights, the county drivers had to back off after dark both nights when wind created whiteout conditions, Parker said, adding that trucks were back out by 4 a.m. Saturday and Sunday mornings.

With work still underway this winter on the county's Secondary Roads Facility, 4810 Melrose Ave., which was lost to a fire in March 2013, Parker said staff have to deal with the logistical challenge of coordinating where trucks can be kept indoors — several are being stored in the nearby mechanic's shop — and, for those vehicles left out in the elements, making sure they're plugged in to keep the engines warm and the diesel fuel from gelling is a priority.

Parker said moving into the new facility is highly anticipated and could take place in a matter of weeks.

'We're excited to get moved in, but it's looking to be mid- to late-February,' he said.

Once completed, some county vehicles will remain at the various satellite locations, such as in Solon, near Shueyville, Tiffin and Lone Tree.

Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan said it isn't fully determined at this point if the county crews will move into the new facility when finished and reconfigure their efforts, or keep with the current plan for the remainder of winter.

'They've already basically changed the way that they're attacking storms logistically this year because of the fact that this building has been down,' he said.

In Cedar Rapids, street crews were able to wind down from the 16-hour shifts that began Saturday night and continued around the clock through the weekend, said Michael Duffy, the city's street operations superintendent.

Duffy said the city would still have crews working throughout the night, but transitioned back to working standard, 8-hour shifts.

'We'll continue to have the same coverage throughout the week,' Duffy said.

Duffy said this weekend's storms presented two challenges. The first was the snowpack created by the initial wet and heavy snow that fell during the first hours of the storm. That snowpack was difficult to remove, but should be easier to clear with additional exposure from the sun on Monday.

'The other challenge is just being able to get to the residential streets, based on the duration of the event and the amount of snow that fell,' Duffy said.

Fallen trees closed some roads in the city during the snowstorm, but Duffy said all of those streets are open now.

Duffy also reminded citizens that a snow emergency is still in effect, requiring residents to park on the odd numbered side of the street on odd numbered days and the even numbered side of the street on even numbered days. When residents don't comply with the snow emergency protocol, it can prevent those streets from being cleared, Duffy said.

'There are actually some streets in this last event where we can't get down the street,' he said. 'We just back out. We can't go down those streets. It's a benefit to actually comply.'