December 25, 2009
by Christine Yeres
News that a snowstorm was approaching so completely permeated the airwaves before its (late) arrival last Saturday, December 19, that there was plenty of lead time for the New Castle Department of Public Works to track it closely. “Channel 2, channel 62, CBS radio and online weather maps,” said Commissioner Anthony Vaccaro, “were all sources for us, although they were a little off this time.”
“From looking at the maps,” Vaccaro explained, “we thought it would have started around one or two o’clock, and there was actually only a little show of snow around then. But at around six or seven o’clock it was like someone threw a switch and it started. We held off a while before calling in the crews. Good thing, too, because if we’d brought them in right away, we would have been hanging around waiting.”
Crews had gone out in trucks early that Saturday morning to spray the brine solution on major roadways in anticipation of the snowfall anticipated for later in the day. “We knew at least if we put down the brine, it would start melting any snowfall when it did come,” explained Vaccaro. “The intent is to keep the road surface wet, and prevent the freeze-bond. And if we put down granular salt too early it would wind up on the side of the road instead.”
Great luck, too, that the storm came on a weekend day and – even better – that it was a Saturday. That meant no evening or morning rush hours to contend with. Crews were able to work on the snow overnight while the town slept, letting the snow accumulate somewhat, then plowing again and treating roadways with more salt when the end was near. The storm stopped around 5:00 a.m.
“The weather can trick us,” commented Vaccaro. “We want to do the best job we can. We definitely have residents’ safety in mind, but we also have to be pragmatic because we don’t have unlimited resources. Every part of town has a different personality – roads that are hilly, ones that are high in elevation, winding turns. This storm got the full treatment: all 17 drivers for 17 routes were called in. All the drivers know their routes, and we had very few problem parkers. I appreciated people keeping their cars off the road. Everybody abides by the [town parking] code.”
Tracks of the brine solution sprayed early on the morning of the storm
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