Sunday snow updates: Asheville Metropolis snow plowing focuses on main roads, urges folks to restrict journey.

City of Asheville employees are actively operating in snow response mode. All 24-hour services including the police, fire brigade and water authority are fully staffed and ready to respond if necessary.

Staff working on site keep an eye out for homeless people and provide them with transportation to the services

Public Works is currently focused on plowing our Priority 1 roads. Major thoroughfares must have priority when clearing snow to ensure our responders can navigate them. Here is the link to the city Priority card for snow removal.

We are asking the community to limit travel and stay off the road whenever possible during snow events.

With snowplows on the streets and to ensure everyone’s safety, we discourage people from sledding on the streets.

A reminder that the city’s central business district garages are now free to the public. The gates will remain in place until the storm is over

The city is asking everyone to limit on-street parking during a snow event! This is extremely helpful in our ability to clear roads more efficiently.

UPDATE: ART bus service has been suspended and parks and recreation facilities closed on Sunday, January 16th. Parking garages are open and free to the public.
Posted: Jan 15 at 6:00 p.m

• Due to the expected snow there will be none ART bus service Sunday 16 January 2022.
  
• All city parks and recreation community centers will be closed Sunday January 15th.
  For the next few days, some services at parks such as restrooms and parking may not be available as crews work to reopen facilities.
• City garages in the Central Business District are now free to the public. The gates will remain in place until the storm is over
  The city is asking everyone to limit on-street parking during a snow event! This is extremely helpful in our ability to clear roads more efficiently.

UPDATE: Parks will close at 2pm on Saturday 15th January
Posted: Jan 14 at 3:30pm

All city parks, community centers and recreation facilities will close at 2pm on Saturday, January 14 to protect our community and reduce the chance of anyone being stranded.

UPDATE: MLK, Jr. Day of Service event cancelled
Posted Jan 14 at 11:20am

The MLK Jr. Day of Service scheduled for Monday, January 17 at the Burton Street Community has been cancelled. Keep an eye on Asheville Parks & Recreation website, Facebook side and Instagram Feed for the latest updates.

snow preparation
Posted: Jan 13 at 3:30pm

Asheville Public Works trucks have already begun pre-treating streets in Asheville with brine as the city prepares for the oncoming snow.

the National Weather Service has now issued a winter storm watch for the area beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Weather Service’s website states: “Precipitation may begin as early as Saturday afternoon in parts of the mountains, eventually falling as mostly snow and increasing in coverage and intensity late Saturday evening. Widespread black ice is expected Monday morning which may be a cause for concern into mid-week.”

The Public Works Department continues its proactive approach to this forecast. Pre-treatment of adjacent sidewalk areas City ownership also takes place. These include but are not limited to: City Hall, the Municipal Building that houses First Responders, Pack Square, Pritchard Park and Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville.

“Our employees are constantly preparing our equipment to be able to start clearing snow if necessary,” said the director of public works Greg Shuler. “We have plenty of salt, our staff is in good shape, and our equipment is operational.”

Road crews are to report as Saturday’s predicted storm moves and prepare and plow roads as needed. Staffing will continue around the clock during the storm event.

Please clear the streets to allow snow plows to get through

The city is asking everyone to limit on-street parking during a snow event! This is very helpful for our
Ability to clear roads more efficiently.

The city’s garages in the central business district are expected to open free of charge to the public around 5 p.m., depending on when the snow arrives. This is to allow free access for salt and snow plows. All are asked to ensure their vehicles are off the roads so our teams can continually clear the roads of snow accumulation or other weather-related hazards.

For everyone’s safety, please limit travel and stay off the road during snow events if possible. Dangerous travel conditions could continue into Monday.

Clear priority 1 streets first

Once it starts snowing, City Streets crews remain on duty 24/7 as needed to clear the accumulating snow, first off our Priority 1 streets and then onto secondary/neighborhood streets once priority routes are cleared. Priority 1 roads are main routes needed for emergency response and roads where ART bus routes operate. Road crews will also remove snow from sidewalks in front of city-owned properties.

The city snow cartographer shows which streets have priority one.

The City of Asheville maintains approximately 400 miles of roads, which equates to 805 lane miles. During snow events, public works remove snow from 180 centerline miles of Priority 1 roads, 318 centerline miles of Priority 2 roads, totaling approximately 400 miles, including 87 miles of NCDOT-maintained roads.

During power outages and fallen trees

Duke Energy will provide additional updates as storms leave the area and damage assessment is on the way. See the failure card below www.duke-energy.com/outages.

To get the most up-to-date information on recovery efforts by subscribing failure warnings. If customers lose power, they can report OUT via SMS to 57801 on-line, or call 800-419-6356.

Duke Energy is warning people to stay away from downed power lines.

If you come across a fallen or leaning tree resting on a power line, call Duke Energy Progress at 1-800-419-6356 or 1-800-452-2777.

For a fallen tree not with power lines, one road closed within city limits, call Asheville Public Works at 828-259-5852.

Pulling together as a community

We want to encourage everyone in our community to prepare personally and come together to care for their neighbors as well.

If you have regular medical appointments which are vital to your health, please ensure you have a snow plan in case the trip becomes dangerous. In the event of a medical emergency, call 9-1-1. For available resources, call 2-1-1.