Make that last-minute mad dash for milk and bread folks for the weather outside is about to be frightful.
Peer out your windows already, and you’ll see the white stuff coming down. This isn’t the Ohio Valley’s first snowy weather of the season, but it will be its first significant amount.
The current winter weather advisory lasts until Thursday morning at 7 a.m. and calls for anywhere from 3-5 inches of snow to fall. That’s far from blizzard conditions, true, but it is enough for local and state road crews to be out plowing, salting, and working hard to keep the area roadways as safe as possible.
Municipalities across the Ohio Valley have planned and have been preparing for this for weeks. Final routine maintenance checks on the fleet are completed, plows attached, salt purchased. Now, it’s time to get to work.
Martins Ferry recently added a new truck to its fleet. In addition, the street department has two pickups with salt boxes attached.
“We usually run three trucks out at a time, but if it gets bad, we’ll double that and put six out,” Martins Ferry Mayor John Davies said.
One of the few good things to come from the pandemic curfew means that road crews will be able to work overnight on relatively traffic-free roadways. Most people have returned home by 10 p.m., save for commercial transportation on the highway and a smattering of motorists here and there.
Restocking the Supply
Martins Ferry’s current supply stands at 300 tons. A mild winter during the 2019-20 season left the city with a 20-ton carryover of salt. It will be used, but according to the mayor, it wasn’t in ideal condition.
“It was uncovered and got wet,” Davies noted. “It’s still functional, and we can use it, but it clumps up.”
In essence, it’s not going to be the city’s first line of halite defense against icy roadways. But, it will get intermixed and used throughout the season while also functioning as a backup should an unusually heavy winter see the city’s supply dwindle.
The city purchased its salt for roughly $64 per ton, down from $98 last year. It was a bit of a stroke of luck. Believing the city’s supply was already obtained through state purchasing, city staff later found out that the amount had to be reordered. When that order was placed, the price per ton was considerably lower.
The rock salt used on Buckeye State roadways, for the most part, likely comes from in-state. The Cargill Inc. Whisky Island Salt Mine in Cleveland is a mine 1,800 feet below Lake Erie. It produces anywhere from 3-4 million tons of salt annually, depending on demand.
Formulating a Plan
Davies noted that the city’s drivers each have a dedicated route they follow when plowing/salting the roadways. Each driver starts in a designated section up on the hill and eventually hits downtown. The number of drivers out will increase from three depending on severity, but the system works well.
Fortunately, despite budget issues that are plaguing municipalities throughout the country thanks to the pandemic, Ferry’s street department is fully staffed. There won’t be any issues with finding drivers or paying overtime because of inclement weather.
“We are fully staffed and ready to go,” Davies noted. “We made some adjustments early in the year to the budget, so we’re in good shape there.”
That’s likely welcomed news, not only for residents and businesses in town, but also for the soon to be opened East Ohio Regional Hospital.
