See, from pretty much sunup to sundown on Wednesday we had a long, steady, soaking rain. This prevented DPW and INDOT from treating the roads since any brine they put down would be immediately washed into the sewers.
Fortunately the temperature dropped like a rock after sundown on Wednesday so we only had a brief period of sleet and freezing rain before it transitioned more or less directly to snow. I understand that the south side of Indy and down toward Columbus and Bloomington had it a lot worse, getting an inch or more of real ice before the snow started.
So the roads were untreated when it started snowing, and it came down all day yesterday at rates up to an inch an hour.
Indianapolis is prepared for snow, compared to other places I've lived, but it ain't New Hampshire or upstate New York. Without being able to pre-treat the roads and a steady day-long snow, the plows were doing well to keep a sort-of-clear travel lane on major arteries. Indy was pretty well shut down yesterday.
I walked over to Fat Dan's for lunch... you can't call yourself a "Chicago-Style Deli" and shut down for a bit of snow, so I knew they'd be open ...and then to Fresh Market for groceries.
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| They'd shoveled and salted the walk once already... |
I walked the neighborhood again at 4PM and even Fresh Market had packed it in and sent the employees home. (Their parking lot had been freshly plowed when I walked through it on the way to lunch and you couldn't hardly tell it just four hours later.)
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| Chicago Combo: ½ beef + ½ Italian sausage, hot peppers, dipped roll |
