City Preparing for Potential Blizzard

According to Public Services Deputy Director Eric Earls, crews have already begun preparations in advance of the storm, which is predicted to drop up to a foot of snow on the region later this week.

"I don't think that we're doing anything other than our standard pre-storm preparations [at this point]," Earls said.

Still, much can change.

At this point, city workers are preparing to pre-treat the roads before the storm and keep a close eye on the rain-snow line. Then, once the snow starts falling, they'll just try to keep up with it as best they can.

"At this point, it's kind of all hands on deck," Earls said.

Residents and business owners are also reminded to shovel the sidewalks in front of their property in order to keep the city as walkable as possible. Those who rely on on-street parking are also urged to do their best to get their cars off the streets in order to allow plows to make a clean pass.

If you don't have a driveway, seek out off-site parking. Residents in The Point, for example, can utilize the Gateway Center lot, while those in Historic Hill might want to take advantage of the Bellevue Gardens lot, or those designated spaces at the Newport Public Library.

Meanwhile, the Clean City Program would like to alert Newport residents that the city’s contracted hauler, Waste Management, will be starting the trash and recycling routes an hour early on Friday at 6 a.m. to ensure that routes are able to be completed in a timely manner before the snow storm impacts collection.

Residents that have Friday collection day should put their trash out after 7 p.m. on Thursday or by 5:30 a.m. on Friday morning. Please remove your trash barrels and recycling bins as soon as possible after collection to ensure that the snow plows can come through safely.