MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — In Madison County, there is no need to place a call to find out when road crews will get the snowplows down your street. In 2016, a then newly-elected Judge/Executive took care of that problem.
“We were getting a lot of phone calls from people wondering where the snowplows are,” Reagan Taylor said.
Taylor took action and had a “track” system installed, which allows county officials to follow along in real-time as road crews do their work. Residents can follow along as well, as it pinpoints the exact location of every service vehicle in action while identifying if your area is serviced by a city, county, or state agency. If nothing else, it has eliminated the need for those calls, while offering residents full transparency.
“There was a gentleman who called and said the road department hadn’t been down his street,” Mr. Taylor explained, saying the caller had a home surveillance camera that didn’t capture the snow removal vehicle.
“So, I called the gentleman back and said, ‘Sir, would you go to your camera at 3:45 am and see if you don’t see a truck go by.’ He did that while I was on the phone and he said, ‘I stand corrected, the truck went by.’”
The caller didn’t know because additional snow had covered their early morning tracks. That happens, and when it does they will come back. But Reagan said that the element of transparency and truth is a dream come true for any elected official in almost any circumstance. This tracking component also allows the county to keep tabs on its crew members to ensure their safety.
“It was a game-changer, yes,” Reagan said.
On Wednesday night, a small sliver of Madison County could receive up to four inches of snow. Most of us are looking at 1-3 inches once the rain changes over to snow. None of that is too challenging unless we get a thin layer of ice once that rainwater freezes.
“That does make it a lot more challenging,” Reagan said the ice potential. “But the challenge will really be dictated by the temperature,” he added.
Emily Goodman, in the LEX 18 StormTracker weather office says temps aren’t falling off as drastically, as quickly, which could equate to even smaller snowfall totals, and potential conditions that aren’t as hazardous. But regardless of what comes our way Wednesday night, Madison County (like the rest of the state) has gotten in some good practice so far this year.
“We’ve had a tornado (in Madison County), we’ve had three snow events if we get this one tonight, and we’ve had flooding. So we’ve had a very challenging first 20 days of 2022,” Mr. Reagan said.
Inside the command center, they are ready for all of it.
“The best way to prepare is to be prepared,” Reagan said.
Madison County will have as many as 19 snow removal vehicles working at once. If you’d like to follow their progress or find out when they will be in your area, you can click this link.
