Icy weather, coupled with the calendar, kept Iola city crews particularly busy Monday.
As the first working day after Christmas, the city sent extra street and alley crews out with trash crews to help pick up extra refuse from the holidays, a routine manner done every year.
However, the wintry weather over the weekend also kept city crews busy, by replacing street signs toppled over by gusty winds, treating roads made slick by ice and snow, and finally helping remove pesky limbs that had fallen onto city streets.
The most cumbersome clean-up project took place in the 1100 block of North Jefferson Avenue, where a pair of limbs broke off the same tree. One of the limbs fell into Jefferson’s northbound lane, while the other was wedged against it while dangling in the opposite direction.
City crews Michael Boeken, Chad Beasley and Bud Jones had to meticulously trim off parts of each limb, to ensure neither fell and struck a nearby gas meter.
Eventually, the broken limbs were disassembled into pieces, and pulled from their lofty wedges.
Icy streets delayed the start of the project, as a bucket truck lost traction along curbside while being backed into position.
A loader was retrieved to pull the bucket truck forward enough for the driver to once again gain traction.
Road crews throughout Allen County were kept busy throughout the day as motorists struggled to maintain traction on icy roads, with several vehicles sliding into ditches.
Ambulance crews were dispatched to one accident at the intersection of Patterson Street and Marshmallow Lane at about 10 p.m. Monday, but the driver refused treatment.
Forecasts call for partly cloudy weather through Friday, with highs in the lower 30s.
and lows in the teens. The temperature is expected to rise slightly, to the upper 30s, by Saturday.
Region misses worst of wintry blast
