City prepares to treat roads with icy weather forecast 

The City of McAlester is preparing for potential winter storms and asks citizens and travelers to use caution if they have to get on city streets in icy conditions.

Forecasts call for inclement weather across McAlester and Pittsburg County in the next 7-10 days. City of McAlester’s Street Department has salt, deicer, and plowing equipment available to treat city streets in case of icy conditions, but the City asks citizens and travelers to take precautions if driving is unavoidable.

“Our Streets Department works to make City streets as safe as possible during winter weather, but if you don’t have to drive in it, then don’t,” City Manager Dave Andren said.

City equipment available for street treatment includes three trucks with salt spreaders, a road grader, a loader with a plow, and a dump truck with plow. The City also has 450-500 tons of salt stored for street treatment. City crews typically delay any pre-treatment to streets so it doesn’t get washed away with rain and to avoid wasting resources if no precipitation falls.

Streets will be treated under priority levels outlined in the City’s Inclement Weather Street Clearing Map that is available on the website.

Priority 1 streets include Electric Avenue, Strong Boulevard, A Street, Wyandotte/Wade Watts Avenue, South Street, V. Hubert Smith Drive, and Peaceable Road near U.S. Highway 69.

Priority 2 streets include Ashland Avenue, D Street/Talawanda Road, Second Street, Sixth Street, Stonewall/Krebs Avenue, Monroe Avenue, Washington Avenue, Comanche Avenue, Kiowa Avenue, Seneca Avenue, Kiamichi Drive, Oklahoma Avenue, Hardy Springs Road/Ninth Street, Fourteenth Street, Seventeenth Street, Peaceable Road, Village Boulevard, Kinkead Road, and Douglas Avenue.

City crews focus on priority streets before treating secondary and neighborhood streets. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation oversees treatment of U.S. Highway 270/Carl Albert Parkway, U.S. Highway 69, Business 69/Main Street, and State Highway 31.

City of McAlester buildings will also be closed Monday, Jan. 15, 2024 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.