When the weather forecast turns to predictions of snow, ice, wintry mix or nor’easters, Ocean County road crews, buildings and grounds and other departments are ready for whatever comes this way.
“Certainly it’s early with the winter season just days away, but we know the weather can be fickle,” said Freeholder Gerry P. Little, who serves as liaison to the Ocean
County Road Department. “We want our citizens to know Ocean County is well prepared for winter weather – whenever it gets here and whatever form it comes in.”
For instance, the Ocean County Road Department and Bridge Departments can mobilize a fleet of about 200 trucks and other vehicles and about 175 employees to salt
and clear roads when the weather turns bad. Crews spend their time readying salt spreaders and making sure enough plows are attached to trucks. When temperatures drop and rain is not part of the forecast, snow clearing usually first entails brining the 1,600 plus lane miles of county roads by spreading a mixture of road salt and water.
“Brine is a cost-effective way of keeping snow from piling up on the roads,” said county Road Supervisor Scott Waters. “Coating the road surface with brine before the
snow starts falling makes it easier to plow later.”
At about 8 or 9 cents a gallon, it’s also much cheaper than liquid calcium. The county mixes brine at three 10,000-gallon tanks located at garages in Plumsted, Toms River and Stafford townships. Six tanker trucks deliver the mixture and can. The largest truck, a 5,500-gallon tractor-trailer, can cover Route 539 in brine from Plumsted to Tuckerton and back, Waters said.
“Brine is an excellent option for storms where forecasts call for the precipitation to begin as snow, it doesn’t work for storms that begin as rain and later change to snow,”
Waters said. “The rain washes it away very quickly.”
The county is also prepared with 30,000 tons of treated salt. “We use salt treated with calcium chloride,” Little said. “This does a better job when clearing snow and ice.”
If enough snow falls to warrant plowing, the first of the county roads to be cleared are the 500 series, which includes such main roads as Hooper Avenue in Toms River
Township, and Route 571, which travels through Toms River Township to Jackson Township. In Southern Ocean County, those roads include Route 539.
"We start with these main roads and work our way to the secondary roads,” Waters said.
The Ocean County Road Department is also responsible for clearing all the county parking lots including the vocational-technical centers, the resource centers, Transportation Department, and libraries.
The Road Department is assisted by other county departments including Solid Waste Management, Buildings and Grounds and Parks and Recreation.
“It’s a cooperative effort on the part of the County to make certain our residents are safe,” Little said. “The cooperation makes for a much smoother and efficient operation.”
The Ocean County Department of Buildings and Grounds is responsible for clearing snow and ice from the County’s 135 government buildings.
Ocean County Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Department of Buildings and Grounds, said County government continues
to operate even during storms.
“We have to continue to serve the public no matter what,” Vicari said. “Getting areas around our buildings shoveled and salted allows us to continue to provide services
to our citizens while keeping the staff safe.”
Waters noted that weather in Ocean County differs from one area to the next. “Coastal areas tend to have rain because of warmer ocean temperatures,” Waters said. “Inland we will see more snow especially to the northwest like Jackson and Plumsted townships.
“We watch the weather closely so we know what our approach will be,” he said. “We are really in good shape for winter.”
After the snow falls then we will know if they were ready. Often they say they are, and then are not ready.
The County is ready.
Let’s hope Lakewood is also.
For those of us living in lkwd for many years we can take this article with a “grain of salt” (said tongue in cheek) we’ve experienced how totally unprepared lkwd was in the past when it came to major snow storms
But time will tell the main concern besides the road conditions is the heavy snow causing downed wires and power outages
If storm does turn out to be major Stay in doors don’t drive(even to daven walk!(you’ll either get stuck or have no where to park and just end up blocking roads and emergency vehicle access unless emergency) use common sense which in today’s day and age isn’t so common
If the snow is cleared at the same rate of speed that the leaves are taken care of, we are in for a loooooong winter!!!! There are leaf piles sitting South of the Lake for SIX weeks already!! We are still clearing leaves with the same lack of efficiency that we were doing 30 years ago. Basically you can not park in Lakewood for two months a year because of the leaves. If you’re looking for a suggestion along with my well warranted criticism, here it is. Get an outside contractor in here with 10 trucks and do the entire town in ONE week. Yes, we are still using that one propeller vacuum that takes two MONTHS to make its way around town. Sort of the way our trustee antiquated street sweeper gets to each block twice a year. And then of course you’re parked in front of the house the day the sweeper comes by because there is no public schedule and no way of knowing they are coming! So…..if the same people are doing the snow removal, don’t get your hopes up!