Residents across Northwest Arkansas with serious medical concerns and urgent doctor appointments during snowy or icy weather can ask their city or county for priority street-clearing, although road officials said the size of service areas means people shouldn't depend on immediate help.
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To sign up for Bella Vista’s medical priority snow removal program or for more information, go to www.bellavistaar.go…
Bella Vista has announced that it's taking applications during the winter season for a medical priority snow removal program, which gives higher priority to clearing streets for people receiving chemotherapy, radiation, dialysis or home hospice care.
Benton and Washington counties and the four largest cities in the region will informally do the same when someone notifies them of an urgent need, officials said.
Bella Vista offers the service because of its hilly topography, far-flung homes and older population, city spokesman Cassi Lapp said. The town is roughly the same size as Springdale but is home to only about one-third as many people, according to the U.S. Census. About 32 percent of Bella Vista's residents are 65 or older, when chronic health problems become more likely. In the area's major cities, fewer than 10 percent of the residents are 65 or older.
"We of course clear the major roads, and then the secondary streets, and we take note of the streets on the list," Lapp said.
The city recommends people travel to their appointments before severe weather.
Bella Vista emphasized in a statement that being in the program doesn't guarantee someone's street will be clear in time, only that the city will try to make it happen.
One or two dozen people have signed up each year since the city took over the program from the property owners' association in 2012, Lapp said. No one had signed up by Thursday, but if the winter brings a bout of ice or snow, "the calls will come in," she added.
Other cities and the two counties have sent a snowplow or two to streets with patients, usually for one or two people at a time, officials said. They make sure hospitals and fire and police stations have clear streets as well.
"Our citizenry has pretty much figured out if they call us they get a quicker reaction than just waiting," said Terry Gulley, director of Fayetteville's transportation services. People with medical needs should give a couple hours' advance notice, Gulley said.
Tony Davis, Bentonville's street manager, stressed that the city's plows cover only public streets, not a private driveway, but the city would try to accommodate a special need if possible.
"Safety is first and foremost," Davis said. "That's what we get paid to do."
State Desk on 12/10/2016