BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — After the first significant snowfall of the season Erie County's Department of Public Works Commissioner says overall he's pretty satisfied with how his team of snow plows handled the roads.
"The snow response, I think, was well planned out by our department," says Bill Geary, Commissioner of Public Works for Erie County, "Timing of it could have been a little bit better, coming through on the evening commute on Monday, but also the morning commute today made it difficult, but we were able to get through,"
Still, Geary says there is always room for improvement when working to make Erie County roads clear and safe.
"For some of these drivers, this could have been their first snowfall. We have a workforce of 150 employees. We have retirements happening. New people moving in to fill those, sometimes it's just the familiarity of a route," said Geary.
Despite their best efforts, Geary says Erie County did receive some complaints. Viewers also reached out to 7 News specifically asking about the response in the Southtowns.
Jane from Orchard Park took issue with conditions on Berg Road writing "Less than 4 inches of snow fell Monday in this area! Why are these county roads in this snow-covered condition? Where are the plows?"
Geary says that Berg Road is on a route that crews try to address every three to four hours, but varying conditions can make it difficult.
"In a four-hour beat, and it's an inch an hour, that's four inches, but obviously in this condition, we probably saw between 8-10 inches before they made their loop around. We have auto vehicle locators, so we know exactly when that truck is there, the speed that it was there, and all the trucks on the Berg Road beat going back historically the past 36 hours were there every four to five hours," said Geary.
Berg Road is an Erie County road that is plowed by Erie County equipment, but not all county roads are the responsibility of the county. Geary says that Erie County has a contract with the majority of local towns to help plow county roads in those areas.
"The county has 1,200 centerline miles of road, we plow about 600 miles of that, then contract out to 30 towns and municipalities, and the City of Lackawanna to plow the other 600," said Geary.
Geary says it's a $6.2 million contract that is negotiated every three years.
To find out who is responsible for plowing your road Erie County has posted a chart online to help.
"It's a great resource," says Geary, "A lot of people I wouldn't expect, if I wasn't in this line of business, know who owns what road, if its state, county, or even a local highway. Even a lot of instances going to that route, you might think you live on a county road, and then your town plows it for you,"
If you have concerns or complaints about roads in the future you can contact Erie County DPW by email at DPWComplaints@erie.gov or by calling (716) 858-8300.
