clear snow before
morning commute
Crews work to
clear snow before
morning commute
BY CHARLES W. KIM and
JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writers
North and South Brunswick residents are digging out again. Another winter storm blanketed the region late Tuesday night with about 7-8 inches of snow.
"We can’t seem to catch a break," South Brunswick Public Works Director Ray Olsen said.
The township sent about 50 crews out into the cold night to keep the roads clear.
Salting operations began in the early evening, as the storm started with a mix of freezing rain and sleet.
South Brunswick police said there were about a dozen accidents during the height of the storm, from 6 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday.
"Most drivers adhered to the warnings. Traffic was extremely light," police spokesman Detective Jim Ryan said Wednesday.
Ryan said that most of the roads in the township were clear by the morning and that there were only "a handful of accidents," during Wednesday morning.
Olsen said crews started plowing the accumulating snow at 9 p.m., and that the major roads were "down to pavement" by about 8 a.m. the next day.
Olsen said the timing of the storm helped with the cleanup.
"We didn’t have to deal with traffic (overnight)," Olsen said.
According to Olsen, the township had already spent about $350,000 on cleaning snow since the season started in the fall, not including the money spent on this storm.
Normally, the department budgets for about $100,000 to clean snow for the year, Olsen said.
Olsen said crews will continue to go out to deal with the aftermath of the storm.
"Now we are dealing with the wind and blowing snow on the more rural roads," Olsen said.
About 30 North Brunswick Township Public Works crew members worked 17-hour shifts between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, North Brunswick’s Public Works Director Dick Fowler said.
"They did a marvelous job, once again, pulling out an excellent performance in a hard storm" Fowler said.
Fowler said his fleet of 30 trucks didn’t run into any complications with the storm, only with parked cars on residential streets.
"It is difficult for plows to properly plow the snow when they have to weave around cars," Fowler said. "If drivers could find a place to park off of the roads, it would create less problems for us and less problems for them in the morning when they have to shovel their way out of the spaces."
The Township Council passed an ordinance last month that prevents drivers from parking their cars on most township roadways during a snowstorm.
"We haven’t put the ordinance into effect yet because we’re waiting on delivery of the no-parking signs," Fowler said.
North Brunswick Township Police Capt. Don Conroy said the police didn’t have any major complications due to the storm.
"Although the roads were slippery, there was a lot less traffic because schools were closed today," Conroy said.
Although North Brunswick Chief Financial Officer Gerald Seneski said the cost of the most recent storm clean-up has yet to be tallied, North Brunswick has spent $25,290 on snow removal and snow salting this year.
"We’re holding our own on keeping costs down, relative to the storms we’ve had and their varying depths," Fowler said.
The township budget allots $82,000 for snow removal, not including workers’ pay and overtime, and the maintenance of vehicles, Seneski said.
"I’m not particularly concerned that we won’t have enough money to meet our needs for snow removal, but I can’t predict the weather and for the rest of the winter. It could snow everyday," Seneski said.