Some parts of Anchorage Hillside received more than 2 feet of snow in storm

Dec. 9—Expand

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People help to free a truck, right, that had stopped to help pull out a plow truck, left, that had gotten stuck earlier in deep snow on Pioneer Drive on Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022 in East Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said 1996 was the last time an Anchorage storm produced as much snowfall as the amount that fell this week. The last time Anchorage experienced more snow over three days was in 2018.

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Drivers grappled with chaotic road conditions and plow operators were out in full force as Anchorage dug out from a storm that dumped between 1 and 2 feet of snow on much of the city by Wednesday evening, prompting local school closures that extended into Thursday.

Some parts of the Anchorage Hillside were buried under more than 2 feet of snow.

Stranded vehicles dotted Anchorage roadways, especially on side streets that had yet to be plowed. With so much snow falling in less than 24 hours, Street Maintenance Manager Paul VanLandingham with the Municipality of Anchorage said it has been difficult for crews to keep up.

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Street maintenance crews began working Tuesday night, VanLandingham said. But even with the 21 graders and six sanders in action, he said, some main roads appeared as if they hadn't been plowed at all because the snow had fallen so fast.

"Some of our Muldoon streets, we plowed them about 9:30 this morning and I just drove them and there's an additional 10 inches on them, so you can't even tell they've been plowed," he said. "So it's going to be a struggle. It's going to be a slow go for us."

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From Tuesday into Wednesday afternoon, 210 vehicles were reported in distress to Anchorage police, a spokeswoman said. There were 34 collisions, six of which included injuries.

Snow Storm

Triton Fearnside, who owns Tiny's Towing and operates a truck, said his phone has been ringing nonstop since Tuesday night.

"The main roads aren't too bad, but your side roads — I'm pulling people out of their driveways, people are getting stuck in parking lots," he said.

The heavy snowfall and poor road conditions prompted the Anchorage School District to close schools Wednesday and Thursday.

In downtown Anchorage, employees at The Kobuk left the shop to help push out a vehicle that had become stuck in the deep snow that afternoon. The road remained unplowed on Fifth Avenue at 3 p.m., said Tasha Bardwell, the store's retail manager.

Snow Storm

Getting to work was a challenge for all the employees and most were unable to make it to the store because of the snow, Bardwell said. Several employees stopped on their way to work to help other drivers push their vehicles out of the snow, she said.

"I was stuck last night trying to leave here," Bardwell said. "I got stuck again on just a road trying to leave my house, I live over on 12th and G and had to call an Uber. It cost three times the amount it normally does, and I had to walk two blocks to get it."

The only customers for the day were nearby hotel guests who walked to the store, Bardwell said. Sidewalks downtown were cleared, she said.

The slow plowing was frustrating to Bardwell, who said the poor road conditions made her fear for her own safety as well as for other drivers in town.

"This is impacting people's lives and safety, and it's scary," she said.

Conditions on state-maintained roads, including the Glenn, Seward and Parks highways, were also difficult Wednesday.

Snow Storm

State crews prioritized plowing main roadways, including the Seward Highway from Girdwood to Anchorage, the Glenn Highway from Anchorage to the Knik River and Minnesota Drive, said Justin Shelby, the administrative operations manager for the Alaska Department of Transportation's central region. Every available operator was working Wednesday, he said.

Shelby estimated crews in the Anchorage area would have main roads plowed and start clearing arterial roads by late afternoon or evening on Wednesday.

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Municipal street maintenance crews were set to begin hauling snow Wednesday night and into Thursday from downtown and make room for parking, VanLandingham said. They also planned to clear main neighborhood streets that lead to a collector roadway.

"We're trying to reduce the length of streets that people will have to navigate before they hit something that is plowed," he said.

At 6:30 a.m. Thursday, crews will begin to plow out residential neighborhoods, VanLandingham said. Crews will work 24/7 for at least the next week to clear the roads, he said.

Nine of the department's graders are broken down, he said. None need major repairs, but VanLandingham said supply chain issues have led to longer wait times to get parts needed to fix the machinery. He said he hopes to have the full fleet operational in the next three or four days.

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The department is also short-staffed. They normally operate with about 78 to 80 employees, VanLandingham said, but 13 or 14 full-time positions are currently open.

"What this does is it just kind of limits the extra things we could do, like maybe putting a couple more guys in a dump truck somewhere and helping haul some dead ends or some alleys," he said. "We'll get our core goals done of plowing the streets, but when you have a couple extra people if you get this much snow it's always nice. ... It just reduces our options on being able to adapt to do some things differently."

VanLandingham said he understands that it's frustrating when the roads aren't clear. He asked drivers to give crews room to work and be patient as they try to "do the best job we can."

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Fearnside said this is the heaviest snow he's seen on roads in years. Nearly every towing company in town had at least a two- to three-hour wait Wednesday morning, he said.

"Stay home — it's not worth it," Fearnside advised drivers. "If you don't have a good four-wheel drive, then don't come out. And not one of the little ones, like a Subaru, because you're just going to be pushing snow with your bumper. Let them get the snow moved before you come out or you're going to end up paying me a couple hundred bucks to move your car."