Yet again, Mother Nature unloaded snow, sleet and freezing rain on the region, leaving many weary of winter.
By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
Yet again, Mother Nature unloaded snow, sleet and freezing rain on the region, leaving many weary of winter.
The storm hit New Jersey late Wednesday night and, as of press time, was continuing to deliver a windy, wintry mix expected to total between 10-16 inches of snow by Friday afternoon.
Gov. Christopher Christie declared a state of emergency Wednesday night followed by preemptive school district closings in South Brunswick, Monroe, Cranbury and East Windsor.
All of the towns also closed municipal buildings and some services like garbage collection during the storm.
Despite being critically low on salt for the roads, plow crews worked night and day to keep main roads like Route 130, Route 1 and Route 27 passable.
South Brunswick Mayor Frank Gambatese said Tuesday night that the township had already spent more in January to clean up the 11 storms than all of 2013.
He also said the town was down to its last 100 tons of salt for the roads.
Township Manager Bernard Hvozdovic said the town had a delivery of 800 tons of salt, but had used it already in the previous storms.
In order to stretch out the current supply, he said trucks would mix the salt with sand to make it go farther.
Police in each of the communities advised extreme caution on the roads and asked residents to remove cars from the roads so the plows could clear the streets.
Residents were also reminded to keep walkways in front of their homes clear of snow.
”All vehicles must be removed from township roads until the plows have cleared the roadways,” a notice on South Brunswick’s Nixle site read. “Reminder, do not throw snow back into the roadway. Sidewalks must be cleared within 24 hours after last snowfall.”
Cranbury officials said the storm left all township roadways snow covered as of Thursday morning and that hazardous travel conditions existed.
They also said that the Cranbury Township Public Works Department was fully operational and that salt trucks and plows were attempting to clear the roadways.
Police were also asking residents to delay travel plans and remain off roadways so snow removal efforts could continue safely.
Officials also asked residents to report any power outages to police.
Strong winds accompanying the storm led officials to worry about tree branches, laden with heavy snow and ice, falling and causing the outages.
Very few had been reported by 3 p.m., however.
East Windsor and Hightstown postponed trash removal from Thursday until Feb. 18, according to officials and asked residents to not put trash out to the curb until that date.
Firefighters asked residents to also make sure fire hydrants by their homes were kept clear.
The storm was expected to continue through early this morning before dryer conditions took control.