Bad Weather Suggestions -- Jan. 18, 2007 -- Collinsville, OK -- www.cvilleok.com

Hey my name is Cory Flynn and I work at the local O'Reilly Auto Parts in Owasso. I have noticed that people have not been taking the proper precautions when bad weather is on the way. If you could say something about it that would be great. They need to make sure that their wiper blades and other such things are in shape for the ice, People should know to make sure they deice the wipers before the turn them on. If they don't this will damage the arm and blade on the vehicle, which are not cheap nor fun to change. We offer the service of changing the wipers for all of our customers. This weather also kills the life of batterys. We can check them on the car. So don't get stranded, If you are having slow starts then have us check it out for you. WIPERS, DEICER, ICEMELT, BATTERIES they need to be prepared for their own saftey and everyone else's on the road. Thanks alot for the site, I check it almost everyday. Thanks again

Cory -- Jan. 17. 2006

Ted Note: I agree with Cory's preparation recommendations but wanted to also note that similar services are also available in Collinsville.

A few of my own suggestions:

Let the citizens know what the basic city plan is (before or during the event) ... e.g. I don't know which side streets will be sanded and in what order ... I don't know if trash pickups will be attempted or not ... I don't know if anything will be done on a weekend? ...etc
From my limited view of Collinsville (my car will stay in the garage for several more days) it appears Main and Broadway have received the appropriate highest priority this time (Broadway was terrible in December in my opinion) but just a tiny bit of sand on other intersections and side streets (and alleys) would make a hugh difference.
Who do you contact to report problems or get information?
Either cut down or heavily pad the trees at the bottom of the sled hill in the park. These trees should never have been planted!!
Where to go if power were to go out for a lengthy time. (we've been lucky on this one so far)
Clarify merchant -vs- city responsibilities on downtown sidewalks.

Check back for more ... and/or submit your own .. -- Ted Wright -- www.cvilleok.com -- Jan. 17th, 2007

Also don't forget your mail delivery person and either clear a path or provide traction to/from your mail box.

Ted,
My parents live in Collinsville & I drove from Texas to Collinsville the first weekend in Dec. ( The first snow & ice). As an outsider looking in, I think the residents of Collinsville should be thankful for the way the city handled that storm. I know there was much to be improved, but every street in Collinsville was significantly in better condition than I-44 & I 244. I left a 4 lane completely clear Turner Turnpike at the gate in Tulsa. I44 went from 4 lanes merging to 1 lane in less than 25 feet. It took me over an hour & a half to drive from the turnpike gate to the 169 exit off of 244. While Broadway was a disaster it was drivable which is significantly better than 3 lanes of traffic in Tulsa. If the resources available to the city of Tulsa cannot get their main interstate & highway roads in better condition, what do you expect form Collinsville? There is much less staff & equipment, yet every road I drove on that Friday was much better than any road in Tulsa. My parents live on 156th St N. I drove down Broadway & 19th late that night & up & down 156th St to Garnett 9 (? 4 way signal at end of main) a couple of times.

It would be helpful to isolate a few streets that are heavily traveled & have a set plan on how often cleared & sanded posted for the community.
Perhaps closing a few intersections at Main & Broadway to funnel traffic on safer streets & be able to just maintain them. Like no through traffic.
Definitely identify some places like the bigger churches or the high school, maybe the new middle school where persons can go if their is power outages, or if they run out of food etc.
We drove to kansas City the next day & the roads throughout MO were great! Even in the smaller communities we stopped in for snacks, gas etc. Maybe there is some kind of educational opportunity for city services/council etc where they can get advice on preparation, maintaince & emergencies planning that could help out.

Truly as bad as it was in Collinsville, the roads were much worse in Tulsa that day & on Monday when I headed south!

Jeanie -- Jan. 18, 2007

Ted,

First of all, I want to say that I have always enjoyed your website with your comments and coverage of the town's events. I'm sure the city of Collinsville, neighboring towns, and past and present citizens of Collinsville appreciate all that you have done and continue to do for our community.

Secondly, I want to make a comment about the roads in Collinsville. I live in Tulsa on 51st and Harvard. I usually do not come to Collinsville for anything other than to visit my parents who live on 166th and 97th, or to get a haircut from my mom at Hair It Is. Since I'm in law school, I usually do not have time to make it to Collinsville. Ironically, I traveled to Collinsville both times we had a winter storm; once in November and the ice storm last week. The roads in Tulsa were actually not that bad once the inital wave of the storms hit. The crews were successful in getting roads cleared on the arterial streets and highways. I think it actually took a few days after the storm in November and this time as well to get the roads to a safe condition. When I was making the trips to Collinsville, I noticed that as I left Tulsa and entered Owasso, nothing had changed as far as the condition of the roads. They were for the most part clear and I could travel at a decent speed. However, as I exited off of 169 and onto the streets in Collinsville, it was absolutely treacherous. Broadway and 113th street were probably the worst roads I traveled during my trip. My truck was sliding everywhere and the roads were very bumpy and nearly impassable.

I do not know much about the budget or funding of the City of Collinsville. I imagine that would be something to research or to get a copy and post on your website. To me, it seemed as if the city of Collinsville has no funds available to treat the roads during a these storms...at least within the first few days of these storms. I know that small municipalities do not always have the resources available to them to take care of the roads. However, I believe it is not enough to have the roads cleared almost a week after the storm hit. It should be done immediately and funds should be allocated for such measures.

I attended college in Cleveland, Ohio, where I spent four years studying political science while at the same time dealing with snow and ice storms such as the two we have had this winter on nearly a daily basis during the winter months in Cleveland. I am aware that Cleveland is used to the snow and has the funds and resources to keep the streets clear, but it was amazing to me that after 12 inches of snow and below freezing temps, the main roads would be cleared within 24 hours. Here in Oklahoma, it takes a little while longer, and in Collinsville, it takes much longer...almost a week longer and above freezing temps to clear the roads.

Surely there are funds, independent contractors, pre-storm road treatment, etc... that can be utilized to ensure the safety of the citizens of Collinsville. I just think it is an absolute failure on the city government to not do everything in its power to keep the citizens of Collinsville safe. A counter argument to the aforementioned sentence is that people should just stay inside when the weather gets bad. I could not agree more, except that some people cannot afford to take a few days to a week off of work, or there will not be food on the table or the rent will not get paid. For those people who cannot afford to take off of work or who must get on the roads to travel, the roads should be cleared as much as possible so that they have the safest possible trip to their destination.

I know that with the recent ice storm, we had three rounds of ice and sleet. It's understandable that it may take some time to clear off the roads. Many roads in Tulsa still have ice on them, but the main roads are certainly clear. Talking to my mom and dad, the streets in the outer parts of Collinsville (which are the county's responsibility) as well as 113th street is still pretty bad. This is unacceptable.

I guess the reason this letter has a negative tone is that both times there have been snow and ice storms, I traveled to Collinsville and both times the roads were much better in Owasso and Tulsa. It was a night and day difference as I entered Collinsville. I think it is unacceptable and changes in funding or preparation need to be made in order to keep the citizens and vistors of Collinsville safe. Thank You.

Sincerely,

Phillip Peak -- Jan. 19, 2007

P.S. Ted, if I could get a city official to respond to this letter, to let the citizens and visitors of Collinsville know what kinds of preparation and/or funds allocated to snow and ice removal are available, I would appreciate it. Thank you very much.

In response to Angela Long's email, immediately following the ice storm, I drove mainly on the highway, but I also drove on 96th Street going to Wal-Mart. I would consider 96th street a main road in Owasso, and it was not in very good shape, but still, in comparison to Collinsville's main roads, (Broadway and Main St.), 96th Street was in better condition. I do want to clarify that I'm comparing main roads in Collinsville to main arterial roads in Owasso like 96th Street and the main strip on 86th street and main roads in Tulsa as well. I did not travel any of the neighborhood roads side streets in either community immediately following the ice storm, so I cannot comment on the condition of those roads, although in every town, even Tulsa, I imagine they were like ice rinks. I did drive to Collinsville today and I must say the roads were in much better condition and I saw mounds of snow and ice on the side of the road. Kudos to the city employees for clearing off the roads.

Collinsville is a great town and Pam Polk's response was right on. We are lucky to have necessities, water, electricity, and most importantly, great citizens who look out for each other. And when snow and ice storms hit, we do need to be patient. We also need to be able to offer constructive comments to all levels of government when citizens are concerned. Thank you.

Phillip Peak -- Jan. 20, 2007

Jan. 19th, 2007 (3:15pm) Message from City Manager Pam Polk:
The City of Colllinsville had no electrical outages during the recent ice storm. Since we have been so blessed with no outages, city electric crews have been in Pryor since last weekend helping to restore power there. Our electric crew, along with many others, are working long hours in severe conditions to help our neighboring communities. Pryor is one of many cities that received heavy damage. Hindering the effort is the fact that streets didn’t thaw and stayed slick making the progress slow.

City crews have also been working to clear the streets of the ice and snow, before the next round hits this weekend. This is one time we hope the weather reports are wrong! City crews have cleared Main and Broadway Streets, and many of the arterial side streets. We have stockpiled the sand/salt mixture and will continue salting and sanding.

The trash service has been behind due to the treacherous road conditions. They are working diligently to try and catch up. If your trash has not been picked up, please leave your dumpsters out and it will be gotten as soon as humanly possible.

The snow and ice are very hard on our streets. The constricting and expanding make any hole or opening in the streets worse. After the melting process, city crews will be looking for potholes. However, we could use citizen help. We ask that you call City Hall, 371-1010, and report potholes. This will help us out tremendously.

We weren’t quite ready for Oklahoma’s first blizzard a couple months ago. We live and learn. We were better equipped this time. We want to keep our town as safe as possible for everyone, and that means keeping our streets clear of all debris. We just ask that everyone continue to be patient. These conditions make it hard on all of us. We are all so very blessed to live in Collinsville. We have the necessities; electricity, water, food, which is much more than many of our neighboring cities. Collinsville is a great place to live! While we gear up for the next round of snow and ice, please remember to check on your neighbors.

Pam Polk -- City Manager -- City of Collinsville, OK
106 N. 12th Street
Collinsville, OK 74021 -- 918.371.1010 Office -- 918.625.5693 Cell -- 918.371.1014 Fax