WEST CHESTER-With the National Weather Service predicting 3 to 5 inches of snow for Friday, PennDOT, municipal snowplowers, the Chester County Emergency Services Department and a local diner are gearing up for the second snowfall of the season.
With two back-to-back storms during the same week — following a winter with no snow — Robyn Briggs, PennDOT spokesperson, assured travelers that staffers are recharged and ready to go.
“Our workers are dedicated to getting the job done and will rotate as needed to keep everyone safe,” she said.
Shane Barrar, road department crew lead with West Whiteland Township, said that township workers are “pretty much” energized.
“We haven’t had snow in two years so we are waiting for this,” he said.
West Chester Public Works Director Don Edwards said the department, with 25 employees, and a staff of 12 dedicated snow removers, will each work no more than 12-hour shifts to stay fresh.
Westtown Township Director of Public Works Mark Gross said that with 500 tons of salt on hand that the earlier storm was “good practice.” He also said that 12 staffers dedicated to winter snow removal might not get much sleep in the next couple of days. He said it is fortunate that it will be a mostly daytime storm.
Freddy Correa is a cook at the DK Diner. He said that comfort foods and soups are popular when it snows. Correa said that when schools are closed due to the weather that the diner is busier than usual with construction workers, road workers and plowers visiting the eatery.
Briggs said that PennDOT will be out in full force. PennDOT began the season with over 131,000 tons of salt. Currently the agency has roughly 117,000 tons of salt on hand.
“We are deploying all of District 6 PennDOT crews, which is 182 plow trucks, and we will be utilizing our over 260 contractor rentals,” Briggs said.
Barrar said that West Whiteland operates four, six wheelers, one 10-wheeler and seven pickup trucks.
Most municipalities will not be using brine, a liquid salt, on roadways for this storm since salt and brine remains on wet roadways from the last application.
“Brine is a pre-treatment option, also referred to as anti-icing,” Briggs said. “Anti-icing essentially involves treating the road with brine (saltwater) before freezing precipitation starts to fall.
“The water part of the brine evaporates and the salt that remains helps prevent ice from forming a strong bond with the road surface.”
Barrar won’t be using brine for Friday’s storm in West Whiteland, but said it works very well.
“It creates a barrier between roads and snow so when plowed it becomes like putting PAM on your roads,” he said. “It’s like greasing up.”
Traffic reports regularly mention taking care when motorists cross bridges during the winter.
“One reason bridges or ramps can freeze first is because they do not have the warmth of the ground underneath them,” Briggs said. “They are exposed to the colder air from both above and below.”
Briggs suggests staying away from plows.
“Motorists should stay at least six car lengths behind a plow,” she said. “Also, motorists should never pass a plow since when the blade is down it could be wider than the width of the lane.”
Kevin Beck, On-Call Public Information Officer for the Department of Emergency Services, said that 911 call volume varies from storm to storm and often depends on travel conditions due to snow accumulation on the roadways.
“During storms that occur on weekdays, we will often see a higher call volume due to travel to and from work,” Beck said. “Our 9-1-1 Communications Center’s staffing is bolstered for the storm and prepared to answer and assist callers throughout Chester County.”
Beck said the department always suggests that residents and workers in Chester County sign up for ReadyChesCo at ReadyChesCo.org. ReadyChesCo is Chester County’s official source for emergency and government notifications (shelter-in-place notifications, evacuation notifications, missing person notifications, and more).
ReadyChesCo is administered by the Chester County Department of Emergency Services and is a free service (text messaging, data, and voice rates may apply) and messages can be sent by county and local officials. Residents can also sign up for community notifications, government notifications, and weather briefings in addition to emergency alerts.
“We share winter safety tips on our social media pages regularly during winter weather events and always urge that residents use caution when walking and driving during winter weather,” Beck said. “We always suggest clearing and salting walkways and sidewalks to help decrease the possibility of slips and falls, and ensuring that you clear around fire hydrants so that first responders can easily access them in the case of an emergency.”
Here is also some information on using 511pa.com
https://www.penndot.pa.gov/TravelInPA/Winter/Pages/Plow-Tracking.aspx
Motorists are reminded to stay off the roads if possible; drive slowly; and place a winter driving emergency kit in the trunk of their car.
“If you do not have to go out, stay off the road,” Barrar said. “It makes it easier for us to do our job.”
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