LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — There is another week left in February, but the Scranton area will likely see one of the warmest and least snowiest Februarys ever on record. So, when PennDOT road crews are not treating roads or plowing snow, they are able to do some projects they would typically have to wait for the spring or summer to do, like drainage work, brush cutting, and even litter pickup.
"We've also been getting a jump start on our crack sealing work which typically occurs in the April and May months; we're able to perform that work right now," said Jonathan Eboli, assistant district executive for maintenance in District 4.
Working on those projects now when the weather is mild and dry creates some leeway for road crews this spring and summer, especially if it ends up being a very rainy season. Crews could also potentially add additional projects to their schedules this spring and summer.
"Perform additional base repair, additional patching, additional bridge work, so it's going to be an exciting summer that we've gotten a jump start on it through the winter," Eboli said.
And while we have not had many storms this winter, the ones we have had have been a little complicated when treating the roads.
"We like to get out with brine ahead of the storm and apply that, so it prevents the initial bond of snow and ice to the roadway. If the storm starts as rain, we're not able to apply that brine because it will be washed away," Elobi said.
And that is what we have seen this winter and will see again this week — storms that start as rain and then change to a wintry mix of precipitation. Still, PennDOT crews say they have used about half the amount of salt they would have normally used at this point in the winter.
We've had a lot of events that we call material burners where we need to spread and spread again during the same event as we clear the roads. That has caused us to use some material this winter, but overall, we are probably going to see some savings on salt this year which is very good," Elobi explained.
There is still plenty of winter left to go, but saving on salt this winter means stocking up for next winter, always preparing for the worst.
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