Fifteen inches of snow disrupt traffic, school.
By: Lea Kahn
Tyler Jaeger and Nick Bosted lay laughing in the snow Monday afternoon after wiping out on a hill behind Notre Dame High School.
They were just two of many children that took advantage of prime sledding conditions in the township, thanks to a pair of back-to-back snowstorms that swept through Lawrence over the weekend. The storms left 15 inches of wind-driven snow, closed township schools Monday and cost the township nearly $10,000 in overtime pay to clear the slick roadways.
The snowstorms also kept the Lawrence Township Police Department busy, investigating a dozen motor vehicle accidents mostly of the fender-bender variety. There were no reported injuries.
The first snowstorm, which blanketed the township with about 7 inches of the white, fluffy stuff, began around 10 a.m. Saturday, said township Director of Finance Richard Krawczun.
The second snowstorm passed through Lawrence after midnight, he said. By 10 a.m. Sunday, that snowstorm had moved on but not before leaving another 8 inches on top of the snow that had already fallen.
The first snowplows were on the road before noon Saturday, Mr. Krawczun said. A few more snowplows were sent out after 2 p.m. More trucks were added gradually, until at one point there were 15 snowplows clearing township roadways.
The last snowplow left the road around 7 p.m. Sunday but not until the Department of Public Works had made certain that every street had been plowed at least once, Mr. Krawczun said. Three snowplows were sent out early Monday morning to ensure that the streets were not slick.
The Department of Public Works staggered the shifts of the work crews to ensure a continuous snow-removal operation, Mr. Krawczun said. The crews are permitted to work a 16-hour shift.
The crews are staggered because operating a snowplow is "grueling" work, he said. The driver must be aware of pedestrians and parked cars while he is behind the wheel of a snowplow. The driver has to maintain a high degree of concentration to avoid striking an object that may be partially obscured by snow, he said.
While the snowplows spent most of the time clearing roadways, they also made sure that the snow was cleared from the driveways at the Lawrence Township First Aid and Rescue Squad and the Slackwood, Lawrence Road and Lawrenceville volunteer fire companies, ensuring that the ambulances and fire engines were able to respond to calls.
During the daytime Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. the township’s paid emergency medical technicians were on duty, Mr. Krawczun said. But overnight, the Lawrence Township First Aid and Rescue Squad made certain that they had two sets of volunteer EMTs at the Pilla Avenue building, ready to respond to a medical emergency.
At each of the three volunteer fire companies, a crew of volunteer firefighters was on standby at the firehouse also to ensure that a fire engine would be readily available to respond to a call, he said.
In fact, the volunteer firefighters accompanied the EMTs several times during the snowstorm, Mr. Krawczun said. The firefighters were on hand to help the EMTs load patients into the ambulance.
The Lawrence Township Police Department made use of four-wheel-drive vehicles from the construction and engineering departments, in addition to the two sport utility vehicles in its own fleet, Mr. Krawczun said. The patrol cars also were in use.
"During these snow events, there is a lot of activity that goes on for the protection and safety of the residents," he said. "There is a lot of work that goes on that people may not be completely aware of. Between the volunteers, the police and the Department of Public Works activities, it was well coordinated."
Although the entire cost of the two storms has not been tallied, Mr. Krawczun said the Department of Public Works dumped 200 tons of salt on the roads during the storms. It also cost $10,000 in overtime for the snowplow drivers because the storms occurred during the weekend.
The equipment held up well, he said. The Department of Public Works mechanics kept the fleet of trucks on the road throughout the two snowstorms, he said. The township pressed into service every truck in its fleet, from the pickup trucks to the large dump trucks.
"I think they did a great job of removing the snow and making the roads passable and safe," Mr. Krawczun said. "You had two storms following each other. You cleared everything on Saturday, and then you had to start all over again with another storm. With the blowing wind, some places had to be cleared multiple times. It was no small task.
"We were running for 36 hours. But at the conclusion, it doesn’t stop. We have to prepare for the next event," he said Tuesday morning, noting township workers were already gearing up for the smaller midweek snowstorm that had been forecast.

