Levittown-Area Public Works Directors Talk Nor’Easter Plowing

Municipal clean up efforts from the nor’easter that hit the area last week drew not so great reviews from many local residents.

In an unscientific poll completed by close to 2,000 LevittownNow.com readers following the storm, residents ranked the snow clearing operations of the Levittown area’s four most populated municipalities. Bristol Township earned the lowest score followed by Bristol Borough, Middletown Township, and Falls Township earning the highest marks.

The lingering snowy conditions in Bristol Borough and Bristol Township led to those town’s school districts implementing two-hour delays on Monday.

The public works directors from the four municipalities addressed the complaints, explained the complications from the storm, and talked about what goes into clearing snow.

Charlie Dearnley, Bristol Township’s public works director, said he knows not all residents were pleased with the job his crews did, but explained the efforts put in by township workers and contractors.

Between public works employees and third-party contractors, Bristol Township had 33 vehicles working on 173 miles of township roadway. Dearnley compared the length of roadway in the town as the distance driving to Ocean City, New Jersey and back four times.

“It is a monumental task,” he said of clearing roads.

Dearnley explained the temperature being below 25 degrees throughout the storm made cleanup work complicated. In addition, cars parked on both sides of residential streets made it hard for plow drivers trying to clear from curb to curb.

“Going forward, code enforcement will be out during every storm assisting police asking residents to move their cars off the street and ticketing cars impeding snow plowing operation,” he said.

Additionally, road salt is less effective when temperatures are well below freezing, which also caused complications, Dearnley said.

“When temperatures are below 25 degrees, as cars and plow trucks drive over the snow, it compacts and plow blades ride over the top,” he added.

Dearnley said the crews have been out touching up problem areas since the storm.

Bristol Township Council President Craig Bowen said he knows the township needs to do better and said plans for improvement will be examined.

Kevin Everett, who leads Bristol Borough’s public works crews, said his team of seven hit similar problems in the small town.

He said extreme cold and blowing snow complicated their task to clean the borough’s 34-lane miles and 14 miles of alleyways. In addition, the municipal crews have to clear snow from pathways and dozens of borough-owned properties.

Bristol Borough had five dump trucks, two pickup trucks, one backhoe, and a smaller removal vehicle out during the storm. On top of that, the borough pre-treated borough roadways with brine to get a head start on accumulation.

“It was so cold the salt doesn’t melt,” Everett said.

Everett explained the borough’s main roads were cleared to the blacktop, but smaller, often more narrow streets may not have been as clear. He noted people throwing snow from their property into the roads was a big problem.

As crews cleared and touched up side streets, Everett said they also faced problems from people placing chairs in street-side parking to save their spot. The practice meant plow drivers had to get out and move chairs.

“I’ve never seen so many people who look like they went to the shore,” he said. “We have to get out and move those lawn chairs.”

As crews spent much of the week going over borough roads and pathways that needed more work, Everett said by Wednesday the crews were working to clear storm drains in anticipation of the late-week rain event.

Jim Dillon, the manager for Bristol Borough, said it was “a difficult storm to handle because of the high winds and the frigid temperatures.”

Middletown Township Public Works Superintendent Eric Gartenmayer explained the type of storm, two crew members being ill, and mechanical issued impacted that municipality’s cleanup efforts.

Vehicles left on roadways also were a complicating factor for public works crews.

“Cars left in the roadway do not allow for roads to be cleared curb-to-curb and can leave snow on the roads after they are moved,” he said.

With 135 miles of public roadway, the township had 22 trucks on the streets.

“This storm was longer than usual,” he said. “Higher winds experienced in this storm caused some drifting of snow on roadways.”

With feedback from residents, Gartenmayer stated crews spent the days after the storm addressing problem spots and clearing township-owned sidewalks.

In Falls Township, which has 96.4 miles of public roadway cleared by 12 trucks, Public Works Director Jason Lawson said high winds, cold temperatures, cars parked on roadways, and packed down snow on roadways that quickly turned to ice caused trouble his for crews.

“[The packed snow] is caused a lot by residents using their snow blower to move material from their sidewalk and driveways and throwing it back into the roadway. It would be better to angle the chute into their yard instead of the street. Once cars drive over this material it is packed down to ice that is very hard to get up because the plows ride over it,” he explained.

Lawson, like the other public works officials, said salt had little effect in bitter cold temperatures and that made things more difficult.

Since the storm ended, Falls Township crews spent time breaking up packed spots of snow on roads and pushing snow in some areas to make roadways wider for vehicles to pass.

Municipal officials advised not all local roadways are plowed by town crews. Many larger roadways and all the area highways are cleared by PennDOT, their contractors, or the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

Across Pennsylvania, PennDOT has more than 40,000 miles of state roads to clear. Based on lane-miles, PennDOT maintains enough roadway to circle the planet four times.

PennDOT operates 2,350 plow trucks statewide and rents about 380 vehicles to assist.

When the next snowstorm comes, local public crews said they will be out making sure drivers can get around.

Report a correction via email | Editorial standards and policies

---

---