photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A snow plow clears East 11th Street Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in downtown Lawrence.

City of Lawrence crews were pretreating bridges and elevated surfaces across town Wednesday morning in anticipation of extreme winter weather.

According to the National Weather Service, the area could receive 3 inches of snow between Wednesday and Friday morning, with wind gusts up to 40 mph and wind chill values of minus 20 or colder. Low temperatures Thursday, Friday and Saturday are expected to be in the single digits or several degrees below zero.

Priority roadways are treated first before crews move into residential areas. The city will only begin snow and ice control for residential area roadways after the accumulation of 2 or more inches of snowfall or when icing occurs.

The city recommended that residents stay home unless travel is essential. It also asked that vehicles be moved off roads/streets where possible to aid in street clearing.

Owners of property immediately adjacent to a public sidewalk are responsible for removing snow and ice. Removal must be done within 48 hours after the ice forms or the snowfall ends. If removing ice is impossible, the property owner is required to place sand on the sidewalk within 48 hours.

Community members who are physically unable to keep their sidewalks clear should visit the city’s website for more information on the Safe Winter Walkways Program

City crews will operate normal residential and commercial trash services as conditions allow. If conditions become too hazardous to crews and equipment, operations will be suspended until the following day.

Yard waste will not be collected Thursday or Friday.

In other weather-related closures:

• Cottonwood Inc.’s day services and offices will close Thursday and Friday. The nonprofit is scheduled to reopen on Tuesday.

• Lawrence Meals on Wheels will not be delivering Thursday or Friday.

• Offices at the Lawrence, Edwards and Leavenworth campuses of the University of Kansas will be closed on Thursday.

• Lawrence Transit will cancel its bus service on Thursday and plans to have a noon start on Friday. In addition, the transit Night Line service will end at midnight today.

• Gov. Laura Kelly has declared all state office buildings in Shawnee County will be closed on Thursday and Friday. This declaration applies to all nonessential state employees in executive branch agencies under the governor’s jurisdiction who work in offices located in Shawnee County. Essential employees are required to report to work as normal. This declaration does not include employees in the Board of Regents, Regents Institutions, the judicial branch, nor the legislative branch of government. Their designated representative will make a separate declaration for those employees if appropriate.

• The Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka will be closed Thursday and Friday.

• The Lawrence Public Library will be closed Thursday.

• The City of Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department has canceled all programming, activities and rentals for Thursday. This includes all fitness classes, adult sports, youth sports, unified recreation, lifelong recreation, nature and aquatic classes, as well as other programming offered by the department.

For general recreational use, Sports Pavilion Lawrence, 100 Rock Chalk Lane, will have a delayed start, opening at 8 a.m. with other recreation centers’ normal opening, including: East Lawrence Recreation Center, 1245 E. 15th St.; Holcom Park Recreation Center; 2700 W. 27th St.

Prairie Park Nature Center, 2700 Harper St, and the Community Building, 115 W. 11th St., will open at their scheduled time of 9 a.m. Those in the Winter Emergency Shelter at the Community Building will be able to remain in the facility continuously past the 7 a.m. departure time.

The Indoor Aquatic Center, 4706 Overland Drive, will be open 8 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. for lap swimming only.

The cemeteries office at Memorial Park, 1517 E. 15th St., will be closed for the day.

• The Senior Resource Center will be closed on Thursday, including its Senior Wheels, Holiday Season Grief Support Group, and Toastmaster programs.