The news trickled in slow but steady throughout the day — much like the snowfall that blanketed Lehigh and sent crews with bags of salt scattered around campus.
First, at 2:30 p.m. Facilities Services announced in an email that Sayre Drive between Taylor Hall and House 83 was closed due to construction.
Then, around 3:30 p.m. a Campus Connector bus crashed into a vehicle on Morton Street. LUPD said it was a minor incident and nobody was hurt.
Shortly after, Parking Services notified the campus around 3:40 p.m. by email that snow emergency regulations would go into effect at 11 p.m. to allow for crews to clear the snow. In an additional email sent around 4:00 p.m. from Lisa Leidich at Transportation Services announced that all bus services, including TRACS, would be cancelled after 5 p.m.
Outside of the university, Bethlehem public schools were closed for the day, according to a Facebook post shared earlier today.
In total, the Bethlehem area received up to four inches of snow by the time of publication, according to WFMZ. Light snow could continue to fall until 9 p.m. tonight.
A winter weather advisory is in effect for the area until midnight tonight, according to The Weather Channel’s website, when winds will start to pick up and the skies will clear. Dangerous conditions will prevail through the rest of the week, and snow will ice over into frigid temperatures as the area plunges into single digit and subzero temperatures.
While crews will work on campus late into the night and in the early morning, local businesses are also feeling the effects of the storm.
Hector Lopez, a SouthSide Ambassador for four years, said that the group has their hands full.
“The ambassadors are responsible for access to ramps on the streets during snowfall. We had to salt them and keep cleaning them up, but we can’t take care of personal property,” Lopez said. “Usually we’ll be out here until 11:30 (p.m.), but I adjusted the schedule so that we can leave at 8:30 (p.m.) since everything will freeze up.”
Around 5 p.m., Rakkii Ramen, a new Japanese noodle restaurant on New Street, was closed. And as just a few cars passed by on the typically bustling Fourth Street, a waitress at La Lupita said she expected the restaurant to close early for the night.
With slippery and icy conditions predicted in the coming days, this story will be updated in the event of future closings or delays.
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