Area road crews remain on track with their materials supplies so far this winter, having planned ahead and stocked up on sand and salt.
The region continues to endure single digit and subzero temperatures, and while salt cannot melt ice below 15 degrees, officials tell The Era that crews have been successful in keeping roads clear and passable.
“Typically, they say, under 15 degrees you’re not going to get anything out of the salt, but we’ve been keeping our roads black for the most part,” said Bradford City Department of Public Works director Chip Comilla. “It seems like it doesn’t work at all at night time, but in the daytime it seems to get activated — might be because of the traffic also.”
Comilla said the city has been using less material altogether lately because of the type of weather and that three-quarters of the city’s salt and sand mixture remains. “We’re below the amount I’ve requested, but we can order more if we need to,” he stated.
Elsewhere, Foster Township road foreman Chad Babcock said crews there have used 250 tons of salt and sand mixture, but the municipality was allotted use of up to 600 tons.
“Even if it is below 15 (degrees) and the sun starts shining we’ve seen that it will activate and start melting,” Babcock said. “The sand provides traction. The only place we’re putting material down is at intersections and on the hills and the main drags.
“We’re just plugging away and looking forward to spring,” he added.
Babcock wanted to get word out to Foster Township residents that the road crew is still dealing with cars being parked along the road when trying to plow and people plowing across roads.
“We’re having trouble finding places to put the snow, and that’s just adding to our problem,” he said. “The police have been issuing citations for it; people are not allowed by law to plow across a main highway.”
Coudersport Borough is in good standing with its supplies as well, according to borough secretary Emma Hillyard.
“We’re doing good so far,” Hillyard said. “We looked ahead so we had quite the stockpile before winter even got here.”
Hillyard said the borough uses a mix of sand and anti-skid, and don’t use straight salt except at intersections.
“We keep a pile of what we call ‘hot salt’ that’s not mixed with anything. Salt is not as effective at this temperatures and a lot of people don’t realize that fact, they think it’s all fine but you’ve got to keep your wits about you and drive carefully,” Hillyard said. “It has been cold, just bitter, but we’re making do with what we have. We’ve had a lot of trouble with water lines, but the roads we’re trying to keep ahead of it. The guys are working really hard.”
