HONESDALE, Pa. — They call him Downtown Danny Brown. He takes his duties as Honesdale DPW Director one step further than required, providing updates on the road conditions for his social media followers.
"Stay safe if you're driving out anywhere soon, temperatures are supposed to come up, but there's a lot of black ice floating around," he says in the video below.
No, beard ornaments and Snapchat videos aren't liined on his job description. But Brown is good at the fundamental stuff too. As soon as he hears the "S" word pop up in a forecast, a few questions come to mind immediately.
"When, where, timing, how much, and what kind of precipitation?"
His DPW crew is small but mighty, covering about 22 miles worth of roadway. Each driver will probably make the same loop several times. It can get repetitive and boring.
So one of the most difficult parts of the job is just staying awake and alert.
"Lots of coffee. We just try to chain the trucks up, and we just stick with it, and we keep talking to each other, be a team and help each other out where we need to," Brown said.
"I have my crew coming in at 11 this morning because we're the last ones on the list to get the snow, and then we'll work until 7, 8, 9 o'clock at night. Then we'll be back on the road by about 2 o'clock tomorrow morning."
\Whew. That's why by the time Brown clocks out sometime tomorrow, he knows exactly what he's going to do first.
"Well, I'm gonna go have a Coca-Cola and some hot wings."
The mayor did declare a snow emergency in Honesdale Wednesday night:
"In order to facilitate the movement of traffic and to combat the hazards of snow and ice on the snow emergency routes, Mayor Derek Williams has declared a snow and ice emergency commencing from noon Thursday, Dec. 15 through noon Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022.
After a snow emergency is declared, parking of motor vehicles is prohibited overnights on any snow emergency route and wherever “No Parking During Snow Emergency Signs” are posted in the borough to allow for snow removal by Honesdale Department of Public Works.
Designated snow emergency routes are:
- Main Street,
- North Main Street,
- Church Street,
- East Street,
- West Street,
- Willow Avenue,
- Grandview Avenue,
- Sunrise Avenue,
- Cliff Street,
- Terrace Street,
- High Street,
- Golf Hill Road,
- Fair Avenue,
- Grove Street,
- Ridge Street,
- Crestmont Drive,
- Park Street,
- West Park Street,
- State Route 670,
- Bunnell Pond Road, and
- Tryon Street."
Check out WNEP's Youtube page for some winter weather safety tips.
5. West Street,
6. Willow Avenue,
7. Grandview Avenue,
8. Sunrise Avenue,
9. Cliff Street,
10. Terrace Street,
11. High Street,
12. Golf Hill Road,
13. Fair Avenue,
14. Grove Street,
15. Ridge Street,
16. Crestmont Drive,
17. Park Street,
18. West Park Street,
19. State Route 670,
20. Bunnell Pond Road, and
21. Tryon Street"