Lexington is making changes to its snow removal plan following winter storms earlier this month. Freezing temperatures and ice accumulation have kept many Lexington roads unsafe. The city mainly focuses on clearing main roads and school bus routes. The city will be boosting manpower for future winter storms, including more employees and private contractors working on snow removal. They’re also planning on communicating more often with Fayette County Public Schools, and buying more equipment. That includes more plows and salt spreaders for trucks the city already owns, and using trucks in parks that already have snow plows for neighborhood use. Chief Administrative Officer Sally Hamilton laid out the changes during the city’s weekly council meeting Thursday, and stressed the need for more communication. “We need to do this before any of this starts, we need to have these meetings at the beginning, the middle, the end, and see where we all go, because we don’t get anywhere with finger pointing,” Hamilton said. Multiple city councilmembers said they want to improve how the city works through winter weather, including District 5’s Liz Sheehan. “We are seeing more intense storms,” Sheehan said. “Our wind storms and our rain storms have been more intense over the last two years, and I expect that our snow storms will continue to be as well. So I think we do need to be planning for that, and not just what we might have had historically.” The city is also buying three new tankers to put down more salt and beet juice, though they won’t be available until next fall. The other measures will be put in place immediately. ** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation. The post Lexington bolsters winter weather response plan following winter storms appeared first on The Lexington Times.