by Malcolm Butler
Officials from parish and state agencies met Monday morning for an “After Action Review” meeting to address the good, the bad and the ugly following Winter Storm Fern.
Police, fire, municipalities, public works, police jury, city council and DOTD representatives were among those in attendance that talked about topics ranging from transportation to communication to logistics to public safety during the 90-minute meeting held the Lincoln Parish Public Safety Complex.
One of the main topics focused on the issues on Interstate 20 that held thousands of motorists — predominately 18-wheelers — captive for hours (some more than 20) from Saturday through Tuesday.
“What can possibly be done about the interstate,” asked Louisiana Tech Chief of Police Randall Hermes towards the end of the meeting. “This has been an issue since the 1980s.”
One of the issues has always been due to the lack of frequency of these types of storms in this area of the country, thus the state isn’t nearly as equipped — literally and figuratively — for them. Another is so many times it’s ice as opposed to snow, which is easier to handle.
However, Lincoln Parish and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, was more prepared this time then ever before.
Bridget Skinner, who works for the DOTD in District 5-Area A which encompasses Lincoln, Jackson and Union Parishes, said that a number of proactive measures were taken this time.
Skinner pointed towards road brine, salt, and motor graders — all measures that haven’t been in place in the past. Road brine is a liquid anti-icing agency that Skinner said must be applied to the road before precipitation begins to fall and can help with lessening the impact.
That combined with salt and road graders through both the state DOTD and the Lincoln Parish Police Jury definitely helped many areas.
“We did beef up (our measures),” said Skinner. “We just got a brine tank here in Ruston. The district of Monroe just got two distributors, but they got them two weeks before this event. We are still working through some things. I am going to push for a distributor in my (district).”
She also spoke of salting I-20 and overpass bridges and using road graders that helped limit the impact along I-20 in Lincoln Parish.
Skinner said the focus of the DOTD was I-20. She complimented the Lincoln Parish Police Jury and other parish entities for their help with the other roads.
“The DOTD is responsible for the interstate and state routes,” said Skinner. “I-20 is and was the priority route. That is priority No. 1. That is where we concentrated our forces. That’s I-20 across the state. That’s where we focus our resources.
“If I-20 is good, then we put our resources on the US routes. But in this event, we were all on I-20 until it was cleared.”
The question that no one could answer at the meeting — or at least wanted to — was whether the same proactive measures took place on I-20 from state line to state line.
Since the choke point of the I-20 issues westbound originated in Bienville Parish (DOTD District 4), the question remains whether DOTD officials in that district were as prepared and proactive as in Lincoln Parish.
Skinner said the DOTD will hold its statewide followup meeting next week in which much of this will be discussed.
“I haven’t spoken with the leaders in Bienville Parish as to those details of that area,” said Skinner. “We were in correspondence with them through the event when the backups started happening. (In Lincoln Parish) we motor graded ahead of it. We salted ahead of it. We put our crews out there.”
Skinner believes the bigger issue was simple geography and the type of winter precipitation the area received.
“The topography on I-20 in that (Bienville) area is severe,” said Skinner. “It’s the hills. It’s rough. The hills on the interstate (in that area) are a problem when it ices. The snow will fly off with traffic. But ice just sticks. Once the 18-wheelers slow down, they can’t get that grip.”
Issues also arose in Ouachita Parish in the westbound lane as well on Saturday into Sunday, and officials within Lincoln Parish also said there were a few that originated within Lincoln Parish despite all of the measures. Bottom line is motorists and residents want to make sure every step is taking place to minimize these types of events in the future.
Another issue that was addressed in Monday’s meeting was the perceived increase in number of 18-wheelers that utilized I-20 during this winter event.
“I feel like during this time, there were more 18-wheelers then are native to our area,” said Skinner. “They may have gotten rerouted from somewhere else.”
“We counted from Tarbutton to Hwy 167, and there was an average of 94 trucks per mile,” said Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker.
Another problem discussed was the apparent lack of communication amongst 18-wheeler drivers.
“They don’t communicate with each other,” said Ruston Police Chief Eric Watson. “They don’t know what is going on 10 miles down the road. There are no CB radios in any of the trucks. There are multiple languages being spoken on the interstate, and none of the truckers seem to be talking to each other.
“Years ago they would get in one lane, and they would keep that one lane thawed out for miles. That’s not happening. They are all jockeying back and forth because they aren’t talking.”
It was something many of the authorities working I-20 experienced.
“They would ask us, ‘Is it clear past here?’ said Skinner.
“Chief Watson talked to one 18-wheeler, who was trying to go to Shreveport,” said Walker. “Chief told him he wasn’t going to make it. He said, ‘Yes, I am. My phone says I will be there in an hour and a half.'”
Some of these issues and concerns can be addressed by the Louisiana DOTD in the coming weeks, while some can’t. But the hope is that the next time a winter storm hits the area that all proactive measures will be taken by all DOTD and parishes in order to prevent a repeat of what occurred with Fern.
