One visit to the Meadowthorpe section of Lexington off Leestown Road, and it’s clear why this area is ranked number three of four on the city’s snow removal hierarchy.
The city lists its areas of priority from one through four, with 1 being the highest. Those are the areas where roads are treated first after a snow or ice event, such as the one we had on Sunday and Monday.
“The ranking count is based on traffic count and facilities. You mentioned Nicholasville Road where you have two major hospitals, huge traffic count, Fayette Mall and other employers,” said Rob Allen of the City’s Public Works Department.
Given its resources, the city feels attacking it from the inside out in that manner, is the most effective way of getting traffic flowing, while allowing safe access to and from critical services.
It’s well understood going into a storm that this will be the case, which makes it a little more tolerable for those living or working in a level three or four area.
“That makes sense,” said Shelby French, who stopped to talk while walking around her neighborhood. “Living in this neighborhood we have walking access to a lot of things, so that helps a lot. And if you can get to Leestown Road, that’s always cleared pretty quickly.”