Winter Storm Information
Introduction
The Town of Salisbury DPW takes great pride in making our public roadways as safe as possible under the worst of winter conditions. Keeping our public roadways safe and accessible during snow and ice events is of the highest priority in order to reduce the likelihood of personal injury to the general public, automobile accidents and property damage. The Town’s goal is to quickly open the streets and make them passable so that essential vehicular traffic can safely navigate roadways. Residents can help us do this by working together.
Snow Emergency Parking Ban
Residents will be allowed to park on the street except during declared snow emergencies.
The Town of Salisbury implements a snow emergency parking ban when it is predicted that the area will receive two or more inches of snow accumulation. Advance notice of the beginning and end of all snow emergencies will be given via an announcement on the Town’s Code Red (reverse-911) alerting system and will be disseminated via the Town, DPW and Police Dept. social media sites and/or websites. Sign up for Code Red by clicking here.
During declared snow emergencies, no vehicles may be parked on public streets, so that snow plowing operations may be conducted in a safe and timely manner. Following the end of a snow emergency, vehicles may be parked on the street as long as they do not interfere with safe vehicular traffic and access by emergency vehicles, including police, fire and ambulance service.
DPW will lift the Town-wide Snow Emergency parking restriction as soon as possible. The Town-wide parking restriction will only be lifted when the DPW Director or General Foreman determine that on-street parking will not cause a public safety issue to emergency response vehicles. DPW may seek advice from the Chief of Police and/or Fire Chief to assist DPW in making this determination. Snow emergency cancelation information may be obtained by checking the Town’s website: www.salisburyma.gov
On some narrow streets, DPW may post temporary no parking signs after the snow emergency has been lifted in order to maintain a safe and adequate vehicle travel lane. The DPW will evaluate these streets on a daily basis to see if these signs may be removed once the roadway has an adequate travel lane width.
Parking in the small municipal beach parking lot along Cable Avenue will continue to be available to Town residents throughout the winter.
Vehicles blocking or impeding safe vehicular traffic will be subject to ticketing and towing by the Salisbury Police Department.
Snow Plowing Operations
The Salisbury Department of Public Works is responsible for salting and plowing more than 50 miles of streets (160 streets), 4 municipal parking lots, schools, 6 municipal facilities, and approximately 3 miles of sidewalk. Main streets, collector streets, and schools receive priority attention. Cul-de-sac, dead-ends, and unpaved roads are secondary.
The following is a general description of how the Department of Public Works plows snow from Town streets.
Step 1. Pretreatment (1”-2” of accumulated snow)
When a snowstorm/weather event is predicted, DPW begins pretreating all main and secondary roads prior to the storm starting. This serves two purposes: to keep traffic safely moving and to prevent the snow from bonding to the pavement creating “snowpack”. If the snow event produces less than 2” inches of accumulated snow, DPW may halt salting operations once all roads have been pretreated and evaluate if additional treatment is required.
Step 2. Snow plowing/clearing (2” or greater)
Snow plowing begins when snow accumulates to two (2) or more inches. Snow clearing vehicles/equipment are dispatched to respond to a snow plowing event. DPW staff will continue to plow until the snow event ends. The DPW staff will also monitor the conditions of the roadways and determine if additional snow clearing equipment is needed or if equipment may need to be reassigned to another section of the Town.
Step 3. Post storm clean-up and clearing
Once the snow event has concluded, DPW conducts Town-wide final snow clearing operations. This procedure includes one last round of snow clearing and placing salt to prevent freezing issues. General cleanup to make the roadways safe for vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Snow removal from corners, piles, etc. may take hours, days or weeks, depending on total amount of snow accumulation. DPW will prioritize this operation based on the following in order of importance:
- Main streets and school routes are treated to achieve the safest possible conditions.
- Secondary roads and major intersections are treated to improve safety.
- Snow piles at intersections are removed from the corners to improve sight lines for vehicles.Snow may be removed from narrow streets to improve the access for emergency and public service vehicles. Snow removal is time consuming and labor intensive; the DPW Director will prioritize these streets solely based on public safety.
SAFETY REMINDER:
If driving behind a snowplow vehicle, please stay back a distance of 200’ and NEVER pass a snowplow vehicle.
Driveways
DPW tries to minimize the amount of snow that gets plowed across driveways, however, snow plows cannot “go around” driveways. Plow blades cannot be lifted as they pass by a driveway. Unfortunately, snow will be plowed into driveways during curb-to-curb plowing. You may wish to clear your driveway several times during the storm or wait until the storm and plowing activities have ended.
Sidewalk Clearing
Snow events resulting in 3” or greater of accumulated snow, the Town of Salisbury will plow approximately 3 miles of sidewalk located in the center of town, beach center and the Elementary School.
Residents are strongly encouraged to shovel the walks adjacent to their property to ensure safe pedestrian passage. The best way to encourage neighbors to shovel their walks is to set an example by shoveling one’s own.
Be Patient
Whether it is your driveway or the sidewalk for which you are responsible, or the more than 50 miles of roadway that the DPW is responsible for, snow clearance is an arduous and time-consuming job. Please be patient. All streets will be cleared and all problems will be responded to as expeditiously as possible.
Please understand that the Town is not able to shovel wind rows from your driveway which may be left by a snow plow, nor may a Town vehicle plow private property.
Hints for Coping with Winter Storms
In most cases, it is best to pile snow to the right of the driveway (as you face the street) to reduce the potential of having it re-deposited at the driveway opening when the plow passes.
When plowing or shoveling out driveways, snow should be kept on the owner’s property. It should not be plowed onto the street, or across the street onto a neighbor’s sidewalk.
To avoid having to do the job twice, shovel the sidewalk after the storm has passed and the street has been cleared.
Older residents and persons with cardiovascular problems should consult a physician before shoveling snow.
Mailboxes, Fences & Shrubbery Damage
The Town will not pay for damaged mailboxes, fences, and shrubbery unless actual contact is made. Residents should mark out such items in drift prone areas. In the event that actual damage occurs, residents seeking restitution should document damages by completing the Damage Claim Form linked within.
Notifications
All residents and business owners are strongly urged to sign up for announcements or urgent alerts from any or all Town departments. On the Town of Salisbury’s website homepage, click on the large gray button that reads “Subscribe to News” to choose your notification preferences. Weather-related and other emergency notifications “Town Alerts” are provided by the Town via news announcement posted to the website. Anyone that has “signed up” for such notifications, will receive an e-mail for all announcements posted by the Town. This is especially useful in receiving the latest messages about parking restrictions and other information.
Emergency
Please contact your local emergency agency if the need arises:
Police (978) 465-3121
Fire (978) 465-3631
They will ensure the proper people and or departments will be contacted to address your concerns.
Public information pertaining to winter storms may be directed to DPW personnel at (978) 462-7611.