Kent city street crews will de-ice and sand streets as needed Thursday night and Friday morning as freezing temperatures are expected to turn any moisture on roads to ice.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
But city officials don’t anticipate closing any roads as they did Thursday morning after a couple of inches of snow covered many Kent streets.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“We faired pretty well,” said Bill Thomas, city street superintendent, in a Thursday phone interview. “We’ve had crews out 24 hours a day since (Wednesday) and will continue that tonight.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Three roads were closed part of Thursday, including the James Street hill (South 240th Street from Central Avenue to 104th Avenue Southeast); the Garrison Creek hill (South 218th Strett from 98th Avenue South to 88th Avenue); and the “old” South 208th Street (from 92nd Avenue South to 96th Avenue).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“All of the other streets stayed open with a minor interruption on South 277th because of an accident,” Thomas said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Crews will use de-icer spray tonight to try to limit the amount of ice on streets, Thomas said. Roads less traveled and in shady areas are the most likely to have ice.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“And we will apply sand on corners and at intersections,” he said. “There are probably at least two more nights when we will need at least a skeleton crew but we will not need the full force.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The city had all eight of its snowplow trucks out Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Seven of those trucks also have sanders and one truck has a de-icing tank.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“We used every piece of equipment for this event,” Thomas said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The National Weather Service predicts a high of 34 and low of 20 for Thursday followed by a high of 32 and low of 21 on Friday. Temperatures are predicted to be 37 and 34 on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“After (Friday’s) commute we will dry out more,” Thomas said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n