After 11 Storms, Snow-Related Issues Piling Up

Harrison hasn't seen this much snow in more than a decade — and it's a good thing, because the record snowfall is creating widespread logistical issues that only a long awaited warm front can truly solve.

Side streets downtown and in West Harrison are becoming increasingly narrow with every storm, creating traffic and parking issues as plows have been unable to uncover entire streets. Only half of the town's 467 fire hydrants have been cleared, despite volunteer firemen working in shifts to find them. This has created a potentially dangerous situation in the event of a fire, authorities say.

"They're buried," Jimmy Forrest, president of the Harrison firefighters union, said at a town board meeting last week. "It's nobody's fault, there's just too much snow."

The town is asking anyone who lives near a hydrant to help by clearing a path to them after each storm, but the more it snows the more difficult that task has become. 

Another safety concern is the narrow roads in some neighborhoods. As snow has piled up cars have been forced to park closer to the street, making it impossible for some emergency vehicles to get through. Forrest said that a number of neighborhoods are at risk in the event of a fire because trucks wouldn't have access to them during an emergency.

A possible solution would be to change the parking policy in these neighborhoods during storms, a change Harrison Mayor/Supervisor Joan Walsh said the town will consider before next winter. A change now, she says, wouldn't give people living in the area enough of a warning.

"It's not fair to people to all of a sudden impose alternative side parking because there is no way to alert everyone," she said. 

In the past Harrison has restricted parking on some streets in Harrison and West Harrison during storms, but that rule was changed years ago. For now the town is hoping that workers can clear snow piles as quickly as possible. Crews are currently dumping snow in Brentwood Park, after Veterans Park was filled earlier this year.

The highway department continues to shovel areas that are not accessible to plows. A week after the latest storm workers are still loading dump trucks to remove the snow from hard to reach areas.

The strategy of cleaning the snow itself has changed this year, the mayor said, as there has been such little time to clear intersections and sidewalks between storms.

"Now we are sending (crews) out the day after, because there is another big storm coming," she said, adding that the highway department has been working mandatory double shifts during winter storms to keep roads passible.

But staying caught up with all of the snow has taken a toll. One day last week town workers spent hours removing salt from trucks just to keep them functioning. 

Harrison has taken a financial hit as well. Overtime figures from the most recent storms are not yet available, but the Christmas weekend storm late in 2010 cost the town $61,000 in manpower, according to the mayor's estimates.

Last week the town approved moving $150,000 from it's contingency budget to purchase more rock salt for road maintenance, despite an effort to reduce salt use this year. Although there is still enough salt to cover two or three minor storms, the town board approved the purchase because there is no way to predict how much more snow will fall this year. There is also a chance that the price of salt will increase if the winter weather continues.

Harrison has used six percent less salt per storm this season compared to 2009-10, but has still used 48 percent more total salt because of the number of storms, according to Harrison Department of Public Works Commissioner Anthony Robinson.

In the event of more snow, the town is encouraging residents to park off the street whenever possible by asking neighbors to borrow driveways or by finding another location. This would grant plows access to more of the road, widening them for traffic after the storm.

"It's a pain in the neck," said Forrest, the firefighter's union president. "But on the other hand, if you want your road plowed well, cooperate."