Snow Removal

Questions regarding snow removal?

Preparation
Our Public Works Department is in constant communication with the National Weather Service throughout the winter months. When a winter storm warning or watch is issued for our region our Public Works vehicles are equipped with plows and loaded with salt. Like most area townships and communities our trucks begin to roll when there is at least two inches of snow predicted. Prior to that height the Public Works Department relies on the Police Department to constantly monitor the Township road conditions.
When the Snow Falls
Once the plows roll our focus is threefold. Our primary concern is main roads. However, many of the “main roads” in town are  State and County Roads. Those roadways are maintained by those entities. The main roads that are also municipal roads include Union Mill Road, Larchmont Boulevard, Ark Road, Gaither Drive, Briggs Road, Ramblewood Parkway, Academy Drive, Hooton Road, Cemetery Road, portions of Centerton and Creek Roads.

Once these roads are clear the Public Works Department turns its focus to secondary roads. These include major roads throughout developments including but not limited to Rancocas Boulevard, Timberline Drive, Knotty Oak Drive, Cemetery Road, Cornwallis Drive and Horizon Way.

Following the clearing of these roads, the Township then turns its focus to the remaining municipal roads in development and then the small courts which come off of the these roads. There are more than 450 roads in this category. The Township also hires private contractors to plow major developments such as Holiday Village, Birchfield and Holiday Village East, and others so we can speed up the process of getting to neighborhoods.
Obstacles to Snow Plowing
The Township’s goal on every street is to plow from curb to curb as low as the plows can get. Our biggest obstacles in residential neighborhoods include parked cars and basketball courts in the street, snow blowers that push the snow from sidewalks and driveways back into the street and the lack of room to push snow when driveways are close in proximity. This is especially difficult in developments with townhomes.
Prevent Being Plowed Back In
In most if not all cases, the plow will work its way down the right side of the road in the same direction as normal traffic flow. The Township suggests that residents wait for the plow to make at least one pass in front of their driveways before plowing the apron of the driveway. Additionally when you remove snow from the apron, please push it to the right as you look from your driveway into the street. This will further help eliminate the possibility of being plowed in again.

snowplow
Salting
The Public Works Department attempts to salt all the Township streets. However, salt will only work if the temperature is above 28 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the streets are plowed, it is only a combination of salt, sunshine and traffic that will break up the remaining snow and ice and clear the road.
After the Storm
As the temperature begins to rise and the majority of snow and ice is cleared our trucks spend considerable time going back through developments throughout the day and removing the slush and remaining snow during the daylight hours in an attempt to dry the road off before the temperatures dip below freezing again at night and ice condition reappear.

Without question winter weather is frustrating to almost everyone except TV news weather forecasters and school children. The Township has a plan in place to remove snow as quickly as possible and restore the roadways to their normal conditions so that residents can get to work, emergency vehicles can respond when needed and children can go to and from school in safety.

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