The Conway Department of Transportation was one of many city agencies busy preparing and working during the winter weather of Jan. 9-12. 

“We were very fortunate this time,” Bobby Kelly, Conway city spokesman, said. “Mainly, that it was just one snow event. It wasn’t sort of a back-to-back-to-back kind of deal.”

Kelly said the wet, slushy snow also made plowing roads easier. 

The department spent 36 hours clearing roads and creating paths for Conway residents during the new year’s snowfall. 

Kelly also said the past year’s ice storms helped the city’s preparedness for future snow storms. 

Both the Conway and Arkansas Transportation Departments began preparing for inclement weather the day before the snow arrived. 

“We were going on our local roads and our primary routes to throw down a salt-brine solution to lower the freezing point of that first round of snow,” Kelly said. 

The city began plowing roads Thursday afternoon after the snowfall began and continued plowing roads into the night. 

“We’ve got four plows, one big old motor grader. We’ve got a few other trucks that can spread sand and whatnot,” Kelly said. “But after they got the initial layer off of it, they went to some of the other problem intersections and spread sand.” 

The city ended up closing several parts of Conway streets, including North Salem at Highway 64 and the roundabout at Country Club Road and College Avenue. 

Kelly said this was due to steep hills at Country Club and College which “people have a lot of trouble getting up and over.” 

Ice buildup at roundabouts in areas like College Avenue, Prince Street and Salem Road was also a high priority for the city, Kelly said. 

The transportation department also placed sand at icy intersections to create more tire traction for Conway commuters. 

“Thankfully, there wasn’t a lot of ice to deal with this time, so it made it a heck of a lot easier,” Kelly said. “They were able to wrap it up in a day and a half.” 

Kelly said the city prioritized opening the main corridor roads such as Caldwell, Prince, Tyler and Donaghey. 

“Once we felt like they were in good shape, then we could start focusing on secondary roads, which would be considered to be like a collector road,” Kelly said. “Bruce Street is a good example of that.”

He also added that hospital roads were another priority for the city to clear. 

“You don’t want someone to have a heart attack and then be like, ‘Oh well that’s too bad the roads are closed’ – so that was another thing we prioritized,” Kelly said. 

Kelly credited Mayor Bart Castleberry for his preparation and his poise when dealing with the weather. 

“He’s not someone who’s going to panic in these types of situations,” Kelly said.  

Castleberry himself said he was pleased with the city’s response to the weather, crediting city services during the Jan. 14 city council meeting. 

Conway Corp Chief Marketing Officer Crystal Kemp said the city did not have outages reported during the snow event.

Kemp said the city’s underground power lines prevented any freezing within the city and that year-round tree-trimming programs prevented any fallen limbs from damaging any hanging power lines. 

Conway received an estimated 3 inches of snow over the three days, according to the Arkansas Weather Service.