Kenny Burbick, operator, St. Clair Township Road Department, drives the salt loader which is used to fill the trucks with salt.(Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)
With the threat of a winter storm looming over Ohio, road crews in East Liverpool and St. Clair Township are loaded and ready to roll if the need arises.
Dan Galeoti said that this is his first winter season in the role of deputy director for East Liverpool, but he is ready to do whatever it takes to get things done.
“There will be a lot of people traveling for the holidays, and we are trying to stay ahead of the game to keep travel as safe as possible,” Galeoti said.
Both East Liverpool and St. Clair Township have trucks ready to go and are fully stocked on road treatment supplies.
East Liverpool has three trucks up and running with plows and salt spreaders, while St. Clair Township has five trucks with plows ready to go.
East Liverpool has an estimated 500 tons of salt on hand currently. The salt bins are full and like St. Clair Township they have a contract with the state to have more salt delivered as it is used.
St. Clair Township has not purchased salt yet this year, according to Scott Barrett, road supervisor.
Barrett estimated that the township has approximately 400 tons of a mixture of salt and #8 limestone, 500 tons of plain salt and 200 tons of #8 limestone which is left over from last year.
Barrett said the township keeps an abundance on hand.
With the season being mild so far, neither East Liverpool nor St. Clair Township have had to use too much of their treatment. Both localities were out last weekend clearing a bit of ice off the roads.
Both road departments reported that there hasn’t been a notable increase in salt prices for this year compared to last.
Galeoti noted that East Liverpool maybe used about eight tons of their salt over the weekend. He also said that there wasn’t much to salt as a lot of the ice had melted from traffic being on the road and they basically took care of some icy side streets.
Barrett estimated that over the weekend, maybe 80 to 90 tons of St. Clair’s salt supply was used.
Galeoti feels that while the road department may have staff off for the holiday or vacation, the department is fully staffed and will do what they have to do to get the roads cleared.
Barrett’s department is currently fully staffed at four employees this year, compared to having three last year.
Barrett estimates that last year the township used about 4,000 tons of treatment. Galeoti, who wasn’t with East Liverpool last year, doesn’t know how much the city used.
The East Liverpool Road Department is responsible for clearing about 4.25 square miles of roadways. Galeoti estimates that factoring in the alleys and side streets could increase that to about 50 miles.
Barrett said St. Clair Township’s road department is responsible for 72 center line miles which comes out to 142 miles total. Center line miles is the milage of the road. The 142 miles is multiplying the centerline miles by two to cover each side of the roadway.
Neither department issues a winter weather warning regarding cars parked on the street and both departments follow the weather forecast and also rely on law enforcement to report icy road conditions and respond accordingly.
Barrett noted that once the temperature drops to 14 degrees, it becomes too cold for the salt to work and that is why they use a salt/limestone mixture. The addition of limestone to the salt helps give vehicles a little extra traction on the ice.
Barrett also requests that when the plows are out that motorists stay out of their way and let them plow safely. He noted trying to pass a plow could put the motorist or the plow driver at risk and could result in the motorist getting stuck.