Winter attacks: City crews scramble to fend off snow
(by Alexa Libert, staff writer - February 17, 2010)
As winter weather has continued to bear down on Central Ohio, road crews have been working diligently to clean up the mess.
"I think these last two weeks have been the hardest since I've been here, and I've been here since 2003," Pickerington Service Manager Edward Drobina said.
"People are working around the clock," he said.
Pickerington road crews have gone through nearly 1,575 tons of salt since the season began. An additional 400 tons were ordered Tuesday, he added.
The city of Reynoldsburg began the season with nearly 2,000 tons of salt and has used almost 1,200 tons so far, said Larry Ward, Reynoldsburg street department superintendant.
Ward said Reynoldsburg has also ordered an additional 300 tons of salt this past week.
Road crews in both cities agree that major roadways are the first to be addressed when the snow falls.
"Each snowfall is a little bit different," Ward said.
In heavy snows like those recently, the city waits until the snow has stopped before plowing the residential areas, he said.
However, he added that all Reynoldsburg roadways are salted and once the main roads are cleared, work begins on residential streets.
Lieutenant Jim O'Neill of the Reynoldsburg Police Department said several parking complaints had been made over the past few days.
Most of the parking issues were resolved however, by contacting the vehicle's owner, rather than issuing citations, he said.
There was a significant jump in the number of car accidents in Reynoldsburg between Friday and Tuesday morning, O'Neill added.
"Where normally you'd see eight or nine, we've had 27," he said.
Commander Steven Annettes of the Pickerington Police Department said there had been a slight increase in the number of accidents in Pickerington over the past weekend but nothing significant.
"The street department has done a super job getting the roads cleared," Annettes said.
Despite the praise from Annettes, Drobina said it seemed there had been more complaints this snow season than in seasons past.
"I think they are just venting their frustrations on us," Drobina said. "They're just sick of the snow."
