TOMS RIVER – It is December and that means winter and with it predictions of snow, ice, wintry mix or nor’easters. Ocean County road crews, buildings and grounds and other departments are preparing for whatever may come.
Freeholder Gerry P. Little said, “certainly it’s early with the winter season just days away, but we know the weather can be fickle,”
Little, who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Road Department added, “we want our citizens to know Ocean County is well prepared for winter weather – whenever it gets here and whatever form it comes in.”
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.
“Coating the road surface with brine before the snow starts falling makes it easier to plow later. Brine is a cost-effective way of keeping snow from piling up on the roads,” County Road Supervisor Scott Waters said. At around 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. The largest truck, a 5,500-gallon tractor trailer, can cover Route 539 in brine from Plumsted to Tuckerton and back, Waters said.
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. The rain washes it away very quickly.”
“We use salt treated with calcium chloride. This does a better job when clearing snow and ice,” Little said noting that the county is prepared with 30,000 tons of treated salt.
Depending on the amount of snow that falls and warrants 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.
Waters said, “we start with these main roads and work our way to the secondary roads.”
Among its responsibilities, the Ocean County Road Department clears 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.
Little said it was “a cooperative effort on the part of the County to make certain our residents are safe. 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 added, “getting areas around our buildings shoveled and salted allows us to continue to provide services to our citizens while keeping the staff safe.”
Waters stressed that weather throughout the county varies from one area to the next. “Coastal areas tend to have rain because of warmer ocean temperatures.”
He added, “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. We are really in good shape for winter.”
