Weather forecasts have temperatures ranging from the mid-30s to the low 70s from now until New Years, but the Ohio Department of Transportation and Butler County communities are already ready when the snow eventually comes this winter.
Brian Cunningham, ODOT District 8 communications manager, said there are 150 to 170 trucks and about 180 drivers in the district that covers Butler, Warren, Hamilton, Preble, Clermont, Clinton and Greene counties. ODOT is responsible for keeping the interstate, U.S. and state highways outside of municipalities clear of snow and ice.
“We’ve done our annual inspections at the garages in each county and got the trucks ready and the plows on,” he said. “The salt is in the bins.”
Cunningham said about 35,000 tons were used by ODOT in District 8 last year, which he said “was a pretty light year.” In the previous two years, there was heavy use of salt in District 8 which covers 3,800 lane miles.
In Butler County, Scott Bressler, operations deputy engineer, recently said BCEO road crews are transitioning from construction season to snow season and went over the county’s 16 snow plowing routes. He said crews have done dry runs, updated their training and reviewed best practices.
As for preparations, Bressler said BCEO will have two new trucks, and one of them will have a new wing plow that can clear two lanes in one pass. He also said the county has 13,000 tons of salt on hand in its two barns as well as 26,000 gallons of other liquid materials of liquid brine, beet juice mix and calcium ready to go to plow more than 600 lane miles of county roads and highways. The agency recently hosted classroom training and a Snowfighters Roadeo to hone their driving skills with a snowplow.
The county also purchases salt for many of the township road departments.
Rich Engle, Hamilton’s city engineer/public works director, said they are ready for winter. Engle said the city has 10 snowplow routes.
“There are 3,000 tons in the Salt Storage Facility which is sufficient for a typical winter,” he said.
Engle said in the city’s proposed 2017 budget, there is $200,000 budgeted to purchase salt because the present contract price is $52.27/ton. He said this is lower than last year’s price of $74.19/ton and that the city will be taking advantage of the lower unit price and order more salt early next year.
He said the key to Hamilton’s snow plowing program, “is keeping same drivers in same routes as much as possible so they are familiar with their route and having very dedicated employees who understand the importance of their job to provide safe travel for motorists.”
David Butsch, Fairfield’s public works director, said the city averages around 20 snow/ice events a year and runs 12 snow routes.
He said the city has 4,000 tons of salt in storage and has budgeted about $250,000 for snow/ice control this year. Salt prices are lower this year, about $68.42/ton which is down from $74.19/ton.
He said the key for being effective in clearing ice and snow is:”Application of material in a timely manner and using the right material and right amount of material for the conditions.”
Middletown also has 4,000 tons in its salt barns, said Scott Tadych, city public works director. He said Middletown has budgeted $250,605 for salt and is also paying less per ton this year at $55.69/ton compared to the $64.33/ton last year.
He said the city operates five snow routes with four trucks each.
Tadych said several city drivers attended snow and ice training held recently at the city of Mason through the Miami Valley Risk Management Association.
In Liberty Twp., spokeswoman Caroline McKinney said the services department has 1,600 tons of salt in storage as of Monday and operates 12 snow routes. She said the cost per ton has also decreased from last year. McKinney said the township has budgeted for 3,200 tons at $68 a ton.
McKinney said the key to being effective in clearing snow and ice is “timing.”
Barb Wilson, West Chester Twp. spokeswoman said the township plans “for worse-case scenarios to the extent that is possible.”
She said West Chester budgets for road salt and personnel with the expectation of significant snow and also maintains an on-call list of subcontractors to support snow removal should snow storms last several consecutive days.
Wilson said the township has 18 snow routes and as of Monday has more than 5,000 tons of salt on hand. West Chester budgeted $375,000 for 2016 snow removal, she said. West Chester is purchasing salt for $68.42/ton in the 2016-2017 season; and in 2015-16, salt cost $74.19/ton, she said.
West Chester is training new drivers and veteran drivers have also done dry runs on their routes.
“Being proactive is key in the snow removal battle,” she said. “Monitoring weather conditions, pre-treating roads when appropriate and preparing crews serve to more effectively battle winter road conditions. Maintaining safe driving conditions for the public is critical. Advance planning by township, county and state road crews, as well as advance planning by the public, make the difference in achieving this goal.”
Looking for statewide road information
Ohio motorists can find out the latest construction, weather, traffic and road conditions on state highways through the OHGO.com website
The statewide system has a mobile app that can be downloaded. In addition, motorists can zoom in on various regions across the state and can get the latest weather conditions and travel times along with accessing traffic cameras to see traffic conditions.
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