Road salt is stocked.
Plow trucks are prepared.
It's a familiar scene in western New York. But, it's also an early one if you ask Cheektowaga Highway Superintendent, Mark Wegner. "This is early. We usually wait until the beginning of December," he said. He's talking about waiting to flip town trucks into snow plows.
The highway department will only have 10 of 25 trucks dedicated to snow removal through Tuesday. "A four hour route is now going to be eight to 10 depending on how long the storm lasts," Wegner explained.
The rest of the trucks are still equipped to pick up leaves. "Leaf season is heavy. There's a lot of leaves we have to pick up," Wegner said.
Flipping the fleet isn't a quick job. They have to attach the front plow and side wing, put the salter on the back, and fill it with salt. The entire process takes about two hours per truck.
City of Buffalo officials didn't indicate snow removal would take any longer in the queen city. But, it too isn't fully equipped. It will have 90%, or 20 trucks devoted to digging out. "There are still bagged leaves out that we'll be collecting after the storm is completed and we're able to get the snow off the street," said Buffalo City Department of Public Works Commissioner, Michael Finn.
