By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
Ellis County Public Works crews have been busy trying to clear the roads following the weekend winter weather system that brought ice and snow to the region.
Public Works Director Brendon Mackay said crews started working to clear the roads Saturday and have worked every day since.
Mackay said they did not treat the roads with brine before the storm system rolled into the region because the conditions were not ideal for its use.
"It helps to a point," Mackay said. "But when you have that amount of freezing rain and freezing drizzle, that's water that's going to melt. It's going to take away the brine with it."
Mackay said that the county's policy for the last four years is not pretreating the roads unless the conditions are prime for the brine treatment.
"Unless you're constantly going back after it, you're just spinning your wheels and causing more stuff to stick to the roadways that could potentially blow off the roadways," Mackay said.
Mackay said county workers start by clearing the hard-surface roads and work their way through the rest of the roads.
"Those are the roads that people are going to be on that may not be from this community. Your hospital's not on a dirt road. It's on paved roads," Mackay said. "We need to open up those first, and then from there, we go to our major collector system."
Crews do not go back and open driveways that are blown shut by the plows. Mackey said his driveway was blocked while crews were out maintaining the roads.
“We are to open and maintain the roadways, not to open driveways,” Mackey said. “Our priority is to open the roads for people to travel on them.”
On Tuesday, the Ellis County Commission thanked the crews for their work.
“Crews have put in a valiant effort to get out there and do what they can,” Ellis County Commissioner Michael Berges said. “I think our county employees, public works, in particular, in this case, absolutely have done a commendable job.”