As we are all aware, maintenance of our roadways is critical throughout the year, but especially critical during snow events as lives can be at risk if they are not properly maintained. Residents, rightly, have been asking to better understand the process through which the borough manages plowing and salting operations.
Timing, temperature, and duration of the snow event all impact what residents see. For example, if the snow stops at midnight, in most cases, the snowplow crews are finished plowing before residents wake up. In storms taking place during the day — more specifically around morning or evening rush hour — it seems like a very different event because the impact on residents is not the same. The cold, timing and duration all play a role in preparation, execution, and follow-up for all storms.
When the borough is engaged in snow management, we follow the best practices of the American Public Works Association as well as Wisconsin State University (a leader in this area of study). We also take a commonsense approach to balancing costs and available resource.
Ultimately, safety is paramount, not only for our residents, but for our crew members as well.
In terms of customer service, the first step is establishing program parameters, or expected results. We can make “roads black,” but there is a cost associated with that and we must work with the resources we have available. One of those resources we need to use wisely is salt. We have limited salt storage, so the use of salt must take into consideration use for current and potential future storms.
Additionally, Lansdale roads are plowed and salted differently than other municipalities intentionally. Most townships plow and salt curb to curb for the entire length of the road, but we cannot. Lansdale plows to one curb and we only salt the intersections of the secondary roads. As nearly the entire borough has on street parking, salting the full road length would cause damage to resident’s vehicles legally parked on the roadway.
Finally, illegally parked cars make it a challenge to properly plow our roads. While in a neighborhood, it may appear to be only one car here or there, but throughout the entire borough, it totals hundreds of cars that must be plowed around. This slows down the plowing operation considerably and makes it impossible to plow properly. The Snow Alert routes are created based on traffic volume, so it is imperative that we can clear those routes to maximize not only emergency vehicle traffic, but also improve the most highly traveled roadways in our borough.
Simply moving vehicles from designated routes makes a huge difference for the safety of crews and motorists in Lansdale.
Undoubtedly, there will be storms where our roadways are not as clear as we would like, and the process will be further challenged by plunging temperatures or timing circumstances. However, our Public Works team does take a strategic approach to every storm based on the most accurate and up to date weather forecasting to ensure the safety of our roadways. The most important action as residents and community members we can take is to move our cars to the proper side of the road and avoid travelling if possible.
Snow alerts are always a challenge and I thank all our residents for their continued patience throughout these events. Spring will be here soon, and we will be able to put the shovels, snowblowers, and salt away so we can focus on the other critical component of public works — road repair!
Thanks goes out to Chris Kunkle, Borough Director of Public Works, for his help in crafting this article!
(Mayoral Musings is a weekly op-ed column submitted to North Penn Now, courtesy of Lansdale Borough Mayor Garry Herbert.)
See also:
Mayoral Musings: Snow Alert Parking
Mayoral Musings: COVID-19 Testing Site Returning to Lansdale
Mayoral Musings: Revisiting the Vacancy Tax Discussion
Mayoral Musings: Lack of Local Data Makes Omicron Surge Tougher to Navigate
Mayoral Musings: Goals for Second Term
