Published December 18, 2019
WAKEFIELD — Another lingering winter storm finally moved out to sea this morning, leaving in its wake sloppy commutes but less snow than had been forecast.
According to DPW Director Joseph Conway, 99 percent of the battle with the most recent storm was done in-house. Crews began sanding around 2 a.m. Tuesday as they braced for a ramping up of snow just in time for the morning commute. “The timing was the worst it can be as far as traffic goes,” Conway said, explaining the department has a tough time clearing streets when so many vehicles are on them.
Because less snow fell at the beginning of the storm than meteorologists predicted, the DPW was able to keep up with street clearing with the use of sand and salt. By yesterday afternoon, with a deep freeze coming Thursday, crews switched gears and pushed sitting slush out of street gutters so water wouldn’t pool then freeze in the middle of streets.
Last night, crews put down more salt and around 3 a.m. today redid the entire town and the schools.
While Conway said only about two inches of snow fell during the storm, a lot of the precipitation was a nagging freezing rain that kept DPW crews out clearing streets for a long time. Only three contracted Bobcats needed to be called in for about four hours. Other than that, snow, ice and water removal was done solely by the men and women of the DPW.
There was some relief expected today, with temperatures possibly reaching 40 but with a drying wind and a lot of sun.
Yesterday, the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory for much of the state until 7 p.m., warning of mixed precipitation with snow and ice accumulations.
“Plan on slippery road conditions,” the weather service said. “Slow down and use caution while traveling.”
State police have ordered a reduced speed limit of 40 mph on certain parts of the Massachusetts Pike.
“We encourage anyone who will be traveling throughout the afternoon commute to exercise safe driving behavior at all times including reducing speeds and giving plenty of space to plows and other vehicles,” Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said.
