As night fell Tuesday, crews continued to work nonstop cleaning up Lincoln after a Sunday snowstorm dumped around 7 inches of snow on the city.

But when it comes to snow removal, the city can’t be fast enough. Or so said the 18 people who called the mayor’s office to complain Tuesday, according to the mayor’s chief of staff, Mark Bowen. Others complained to the public works department that the city’s snow removal effort was lackluster.

Public works director Karl Fredrickson said if the weather forecast had properly predicted the 7-inch wallop, the city would have been better prepared. But weather forecasts being what they are, city employees left work Friday expecting a trace of snow to hit Sunday. But by 5 a.m. Sunday, they could see that had changed and began making phone tree calls to mobilize as many workers as they could roust.

City employees who patch potholes in the summer and repair pavement in the fall make up the “snow team” when storms hit. Most reported for work, but some were sick or on vacation.

Snow crews were on the streets by about 7 a.m. Sunday, Fredrickson said, working as the snow hit hardest from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. About 23 sanders began spreading a mixture of salt and sand Sunday morning to the tune of 600 pounds per lane mile. They began plowing snow around 9 a.m., when the forecast changed.

Had they known the city was going to get dumped on, they would have dropped the plows earlier so the snow wouldn’t accumulate so much, Fredrickson said.

“A better forecast would’ve helped tremendously,” he said. “Hindsight’s always 20/20.”

The temperature, snow conditions and depth all factor into how difficult it is to clear streets, he said. It takes longer to clear a cul-de-sac — about 20 minutes versus five minutes for a city block.

The arterial streets and emergency snow routes are done first, and residential streets later. Although residential streets may not be plowed if they have less than four inches of snow and are passable.

Those who complained that they didn’t see any snowplows out need to remember the city has about 2,500 lane miles of streets to clear.

“We’ve got 2,500 lane miles of streets that they disappear into,” Fredrickson said. “They’re out there.”

As for those who wonder why the city didn’t apply an anti-icing treatment before the snow fell, Fredrickson said since it was raining Saturday night, it would have just washed away.

By Tuesday, all of the arterial streets had been plowed four times, he said. But they were planning to continue to work through the night to clean up the city. The city’s 54 snowplows and nine motor graders were supplemented by a handful of private truck-mounted plows, about 18 private motor graders.

“We’ll continue to try to peel that off throughout the night,” he promised.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.