By:Jeff Lipton
Snow accumulations combined with bitterly cold temperatures over the past two weeks have kept village officials busy clearing roads and preventing streets from icing over.
More than six inches of snow that fell on Jan. 15 forced the cancellation of school across Nassau County, including the Lawrence and Hewlett-Woodmere school districts. School officials said they wanted to err on the side of caution, since forcing students to make their way to school would put their safety in jeopardy.
In addition, temperatures hovered just above zero on Thursday night and Friday, with a wind chill dipping at times to 25 below zero. Village officials said they realized that if they did not act quickly, their roads would turn into ice ponds by Friday morning.
Crews were out at 4 a.m. on Thursday in Atlantic Beach, clearing the snow from local roads, said Steven Cherson, the village-s superintendent of public works. We were right on top of it, he said. We didn-t receive any complaints about the [condition] of the roads.
We really didn-t have much of an ice situation, he added. After the snow fell, we put down salt, which pretty much melted everything.
Cherson said salt loses its effectiveness in temperatures well below freezing, but when salt is spread and crushed by cars, it can be extremely effective. In addition, a mixture of salt and sand is used on slippery, ice-laden roads.
Many sidewalks were extremely icy by Monday morning, after Sunday saw rain changing into snow and then sub-freezing temperatures that night. During the commute on Monday morning, Nassau police reported about 45 traffic accidents, many due to the slick conditions. The numbers would probably have been higher, but Monday was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday, and fewer cars were on the road, officials said.
Village of Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise said eight trucks were out clearing the snow from the roughly 18 miles of village roads, and by Thursday afternoon the roads were all clear except for a few dead-end streets. He added that two trucks to spread salt and sand were ready to go out Friday morning, when the wind chill dipped to well below zero.
Parise said he received one complaint from a resident on Oakland Avenue, even though plows hit that street three times. He added that even though the combination of snow and brutally cold temperatures sounds difficult to handle, it wasn-t this time, because officials got plenty of notice about the weather conditions and were fully prepared to handle them. It wasn-t tough to do this one, Parise said, adding that last year-s snowstorms were much more difficult to deal with. We got plenty of notice of these. It didn-t just happen. The snow came down slowly and it was light snow, not heavy, wet snow. We were able to keep up with it.
It was most difficult to clear snow from streets off Washington Avenue, which are lined with homes that are smaller and have no driveways, so cars were parked on the street. When we have problems, we go back and do the best we can, Parise said.
Other villages also found the conditions bearable. In Hewlett Neck, Hewlett Bay Park and Woodsburgh, officials were able to keep up with the snow. I guess everything is fine, because we got no complaints and no phone calls, said Marie Velotti, clerk for the three villages. We plowed the streets and put sand on them.
Peter Overs, administrator for the Village of Lawrence, said five sanders were out in the early evening on Wednesday, Jan. 14, just after the snow began to fall, and 10 plows were out at midnight clearing the snow. We were able to get a good head start, and everything went smoothly, he said.
As usual with harsh winter conditions, hardware stores were kept busy selling wares to help residents cope with the conditions. At Justin-s Hardware, 1024 Broadway in Woodmere, anything to help residents stay warm was in hot demand. We also sold lots of ice melt and lots of window insulation, and all kinds of air-conditioner covers and indoor air-conditioner covers and, of course, some snow shovels, said Justin, who didn-t give his last name.
I-m surprised as many people came out as they did, as cold as it was today [Friday], he added.
