Road crews prepared for winter storm
With about 11 inches of snow forecast for Sunday into Monday, local road crews said Saturday night that preparation will not be a problem. The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said residents in Fayette and Greene counties face a 90 percent chance of seeing 2 to 4 inches early Sunday, starting between 9 a.m. and noon and continuing into Monday. Another 3 to 4 inches is expected early Monday, with the winter storm finally predicted to end between noon and 3 p.m. Monday.
A spokesperson for the weather service added that although the north-moving storm could continue into Monday, all it takes is a slight 50-mile shift for the storm to miss the area.
If the storm hits, however, Brent Blake, highway equipment manager for the state Department of Transportation in Uniontown, said local road crews are ready, especially after an additional 2,000 tons of salt was delivered to the PennDOT center early Saturday. This additional load increased the nine stockpile locations throughout Fayette County.
Blake noted that his anti-skid equipment, along with the plow blades attached to the trucks, also are ready to go.
“We are in good shape as far as material goes,” he said.
Blake said secondary roads do not receive as thorough a treatment as the main highways, such as Route 51 and Route 40.
“A 90/10 mix of salt and cinder is used to treat secondary roads, while a 50/50 mix is used on main,” said Blake. “With the cold weather, salt sometimes doesn’t work well under those conditions, so we need the sunshine and traffic to keep roadways clean.”
Blake advised commuters to “just take it easy and be careful out there, and everything should be all right.”
David Hawk of the PennDOT command center in Greene County said three trucks equipped with plows are sitting and awaiting the snow.
“We received five to six more truckloads of salt in today,” said Hawk. “We take care of as much as we can as quickly as we can. If we get more than an inch or two, we put the cinders down and make sure to treat the highways and the higher elevations.”
While crews are prepared, residents may not be.
Manager Ed Cupp of the Shop n’ Save located on Cherry Tree Plaza reported an increased rush of shoppers earlier Saturday that tapered off Saturday evening. He noted that basic items such as bread, milk and water were being grabbed up.
A spokesperson for the Giant Eagle on Route 51 reported the rushed purchase of the same basic items, although he observed a higher rush of shoppers on Thursday and Friday, rather than Saturday.