FRANKLIN—City Manager Randy Martin said that with the recent ice and snow accumulation downgrade, that Franklin’s roads and utilities should fare well.

Martin said the Public Works has restocked materials that keep the roads from icing up, and that trucks are out distributing it. Crews are working in a shift until midnight, and then another shift takes over until morning.

Tonight, sleet is projected to start before 9 p.m., and it will turn into rain. The low will be around 33 degrees. It is projected to snow until the late afternoon hours. Ice accumulation is now estimated to be less than an inch, while snow accumulation could be 1-2 inches.

With it warming up and raining, Martin said the roadways and utilities should be in good shape.

“One of our earlier concerns about this event was the prediction of heavy wet snow and ice,” he said. “We’re hoping that the ice doesn’t transpire. Ice is what gives us problems with electrical lines. Tree limbs ice over, get heavy and break and fall on lines and cause outages.”

During the last snow event, Martin said, approximately 250 customers out of 5,000 lost power. The City of Franklin Electric Utility covers Franklin, parts of Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and parts of the City of Suffolk.

“We are encouraged that the ice has been significantly reduced,” he said. “If this pans out, we will avoid major damage to our system, but we are ready if it doesn’t.”