City Hall lot plowed as crews wait for thaw to help clear major city streets

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — When Wilmington City Hall reopens for business, the parking lot should be in pretty good shape even if the roads around it are still a mess.

At lunch time we saw crews plowing snow and dumping sand in the lot at City Hall, which was closed today.

Meanwhile N. 3rd and Chestnut streets, which border City Hall, were at best slushy and at worst still covered in ice and snow.

City spokeswoman Malissa Talbert says the lot was cleaned to ensure the safety of employees when they get back to work.

“Because there is ice on the roads that can’t really be removed effectively with a plow and we expect anything that might happen to thaw out today to refreeze tonight, we aren’t clearing the street,” Talbert said in an e-mail to WWAY. “Of course, most major roadways in town are maintained by (the North Carolina Department of Transportation).”

Later Talbert told WWAY the temperature had warmed up enough and there had been enough melting that crews were in the process of clearing some of the major city streets. While they wait for the ice to melt to be able to do more clearing, she said they are putting brine on these streets as the ice melts in hopes of keeping them from refreezing tonight. Talbert says this afternoon the city also activated a couple of contractors.

Talbert says the city hopes to have these streets cleared before it starts to freeze up again tonight:

-Parts of Independence Blvd.
-Part of River Road
-17th Street
-Greenville Loop Road
-41st Street
-Maybe Holly Tree if crews can get to it in time

Talbert says the city has only two plows, which are actually retrofitted trucks. She says other equipment can be used to clear parking lots like the City Hall lot.

Talbert also said the Wilmington Police Department and the Wilmington Fire Department are asking drivers to stay off roads if possible because ice remains on most if not all of the roads. She said the situations with smaller side roads and neighborhood streets used to get to major roads is a particular concern.

By early afternoon, WPD said its officers had worked more than 50 crashes due to the snow and ice.