Bianchi Urges Patience With Snow Removal
 The large amount of snow is being hauled to Clapp and Wahconah Parks and the city is ordering two more truck loads of salt to treat the roads. |
Mayor Daniel Bianchi says a combination of extraordinary snowfall levels, subzero temperatures, a shortage of salt and sand, and a turnover in private contractors has made it difficult to manage the roadways this season.
"The roads are in tough shape. We've had some unusual events. This is probably one of the worst winters this region has seen in quite a while as far as snow and extreme temperature," Bianchi said Tuesday morning in between handing dozens of calls from residents concerned with travel.
Particularly, the mayor says the cold temperatures have counteracted any treatments of salt and calcium chlorate.
The mayor said the only way to pre-treat the roads in these conditions would be to apply a more expensive liquid product. Bianchi says he has concerns with both the cost of that and the corrosiveness of the chemicals.
With salt supplies running low and two more storms eyed to hit the city in the coming week, the city is applying the salt treatments only when they'll be the most affective — which could be Tuesday because of a rise in temperature.
"We're being very careful with the application of salt given the extreme temperatures. We don't want to put down a lot of product that isn't going to be affective because of the temperatures. We've been careful knowing we have other storms coming up. We have two more that we are anticipating this week," Bianchi said.
Meanwhile, the city is ordering two truckloads of salt from the port of Albany.
And it has received approval to haul snow from cut-down banks and roads to dump at Clapp Park and Wahconah Park. A large snowblower and dump trucks have been transporting the snow to the parks.
"We're getting there. Unfortunately, not as quick as we would like," Bianchi said.
As for plowing, 18 city workers are alternating 12-hour shifts to clear the main roads. Thirty private contractors have been hired to clear the neighborhood roads.
"We've got approximately 30 private contractors, 10 of them are new this year," Bianchi said, saying the turnover may have caused some delays.
"As we get calls from citizens, we try to contact the contractors to let them know where there is a problem, where there is an issue and try to rectify it through them."
Overall, Bianchi says the city is doing everything it can to manage the roads but the biggest impact is just the frequency of storms dropping large amounts of snow and temperatures.
"A season like this comes around once in every 10 years. You don't plan for this kind of event. But, if we can do anything next year it would be to keep the contractors we have now who are now experienced and improve on their effectiveness," Bianchi said.
The mayor continues to ask residents to report problem spots so the city is aware of any issues.
"We appreciate people's patience and we want to hear about any trouble spots people are having. We certainly urge people to drive more cautiously," Bianchi said.
Tags: snow & ice, snow removal, snowstorm,
