With up to four inches of snow predicted citywide on Wednesday, Bellevue is gearing up for its second winter blast this year.

Last weekend, city crews successfully cleared all roads in of snow and ice in time for the work week commutes and for Bellevue public schools to open on time Monday morning. But the city is warning citizens that the snow and hard freeze forecast for Wednesday and later this week will present more severe challenges.

With heavy snowfall predicted citywide, utilities crews will be working round the clock and focusing on priority and emergency routes. If the snow is continuous, they may not be able to get to other roads and neighborhood streets until a day or two after the snow stops.

“If we have an extended and significant snowfall throughout the day, it will take all of our resources just to keep up with the priority arterials and commuter routes, and we’ll be hard pressed just to keep up with those,” said Mike Jackman, assistant director of Utilities Operations and Maintenance. “Additionally, with the hard freeze in the forecast, it will be more difficult to remove snow and ice accumulations from roads.”

To see the city’s snow response priority map, visit www.bellevuewa.gov/pdf/Transportation/snow_response_priorities_map.pdf