LONG VERSION

HOW? JUST TELL US.

KENT CITY HOPES TO MAKE COMMUTERS’ DRIVING EASIER WITH NEW PLOWING METHODS…

Changes in the City of Kent’s snow plowing methods should help students commuting to Kent State, minimize damages to the roads and increase drivers’ safety this season.

The new plows used by the city, which were already equipped with steal STEEL….STEEL-EDGED BLADES….edge blades instead of rubber, now use air bags that can regulate the pressure going into the pavement when scrapping ice out of roads and streets, said Eugene Roberts, Kent’s director of public service.

Being located slightly above the ground, the steal edge blades STEEL-EDGED are capable of scrapping the pavement closer and with more pressure than the rubber ones, reducing the amount of salt the city spends in the winter season, Roberts said.

“We’ve been able to cut back in our salt usage because we are able to scrape with the steal edge all the way down to the pavement,” Roberts said.

However, because the steal edge blades were also heavier, Roberts explained they were more likely to cut the pavement and allow for water to penetrate the cracks, expand after becoming ice and causing larger potholes to appear.

Katy Scott, sophomore secondary education major, who commutes from Ravenna to Kent, said potholes combined with traffic always make her 10-minute commute longer during the winter.

“Even though it is only 10 minutes it still is difficult (to drive in the winter) because I like to go through Summit (Street), but Summit isn’t completely plowed, and it kind of has a windy road, and ice does build up, and when it builds up, when it melts, it has potholes,” Scott said. “And that’s the difficult part, it’s hitting the potholes.”

Because potholes affect drivers and end up costing the city later, for this winter season Roberts said the city mechanics came up with the new method of adjusting the weight of the blade, allowing it to work according to the pavement and to cause less damage to the roads.

The new plow uses an air bag that regulates the pressure of the blade going into the ground, which helps to avoid scrapping the ground. Depending on the pavement being cleaned, and the amount of snow, the blade can cut closer or farther from the pavement.

“If we need a lot of pressure to peel off the real hard stuff, we turn the air off, the plow’s full weight goes to the pavement,” Roberts said. “If it’s soft, and we can get it off without that, we turn the air up (and) the weight of the blade comes up. We believe this will minimize the defects that we are going to find in the spring.”

“By begin able to adjust up and down the plow, with some degree of accuracy,” Roberts said, “we can get the maximum of snow out with the mechanical device, the blade, therefore using less salt, which is the most costly next to labor.”

The snow cleanup plan follows as every year — centered on emergency response — classifying locations among primary, secondary and so on. The first places to be cleaned are main access routes, school zones, bridges and the downtown area, followed by residential areas and neighborhoods.

Roberts said the city will continue using salt brine, a mix of water and salt, to pretreat the roads before cleaning. He added the city believes to be prepared with enough salt to clean the roads, an amount that may vary between 8,000 and 15,000 tons per season, at $43 a ton.

Roberts said the city can put up to 11 trucks on the roads this year and that 22 people from the central maintenance division can work plowing the snow with the equipment. He added a few other city employees, who have commercial driver licenses COMMA….

can work if necessary.

Roberts said the point of the winter snow cleanup and preparation is to maximize the safety of the drivers and minimize damage, but that other factors such as amount of snowfall or wind behavior can’t always be predicted ahead of time.

“The variables are just beyond imagination, but we can look at this from an election stand point and say ‘this is what we are trying to do,’ Roberts said, trying to minimize damage and maximize safety, and still be able to maintain our ability to be quick in response so people can travel anywhere.”

“We are as ready as we can be,” he said

Roberts said governments at all levels have to work together to make the process as expeditious and efficient as possible, cleaning the roads in a shared manner.

He added the city of Kent, which as now cleans part of state route 261, while the Ohio Department of Transportation mows that area in exchange, for have been working to assure efficiency when removing the snow both within the city’s corporate boundaries and state routes, cleaned by the ODOT.

“We are completely stocked and ready to go,” said Christine Myers, public information specialist at the ODOT’s District 4 about this year’s salt supply.

ODOT’s District 4 includes Portage, Ashtabula, Mahoning, Stark, Summit and Trumbull counties.

According to the department, in the 2009-2010 season Portage County averaged 8 feet of snow, which was only behind Ashtabula County that received 13 feet.

Myers said nothing has changed about the winter preparation at Portage County since last year, and that the department will keep using salt, brine and calcium chloride to prevent the roads from freezing at low temperatures.

Portage County will have 17 snow and ice removing equipment pieces available for this season.

Myers said the department is encouraging drivers to avoid distractions and learn about their vehicles capabilities, specially in the winter season. She added drivers should keep a distance from both other drivers and vehicles removing snow from the road.

Scott said although she has to deal with traffic in the streets, potholes and the snow when driving to Kent, she is not concerned about this winter season, and gave some advice to other drivers.

“I think this is going to be like every other winter,” Scott said. “There’s just going to be snow and you are going to have to deal with it, go slow and pay attention in what you are doing.”

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SHORT VERSION

Changes in the City of Kent’s snow plowing methods should help students commuting to Kent State, minimize damages to the roads and increase drivers’ safety this season.

After realizing steal blades were damaging pavement, Kent is introducing a new plow this winter, using an air bag to regulate the pressure going into the ground, causing less damage to the roads, said Eugene Roberts, director of public service.

Katy Scott, sophomore secondary education major, who commutes from Ravenna to Kent, said potholes combined with traffic always make her 10-minute commute longer during the winter.

“Even though it is only 10 minutes it still is difficult (to drive in the winter) because I like to go through Summit (Street), but Summit isn’t completely plowed, and it kind of has a windy road, and ice does build up, and when it builds up, when it melts, it has potholes,” Scott said. “And that’s the difficult part, it’s hitting the potholes.”

Because potholes affect drivers and end up costing the city later, Roberts said the city mechanics came up with the new method of adjusting the weight of the blade by pressure, allowing it to work closer or farther from the ground, causing less damage to the roads and using less salt.

“By begin able to adjust up and down the plow, with some degree of accuracy,” Roberts said, “we can get the maximum of snow out with the mechanical device, the blade, therefore using less salt, which is the most costly next to labor.”

The snow cleanup plan follows as every year — centered on emergency response — classifying locations among primary, secondary and so on. The first places to be cleaned are main access routes, school zones, bridges and the downtown area, followed by residential areas and neighborhoods.

Roberts said the city will continue using a mix of water and salt, to pretreat the roads before cleaning. He added the city believes to be prepared with enough salt to clean the roads, an amount that may vary between 8,000 and 15,000 tons per season, at $43 a ton.

He said the city can put up to 11 trucks and 22 central maintenance division staff to work removing the snow. He added some other city employees have commercial driver licenses and can work if necessary.

“We are as ready as we can be,” he said

Roberts said Kent and the Ohio Department of Transportation have been working together to assure efficiency when removing the snow both within the city’s corporate boundaries and state routes, normally cleaned by the ODOT, with the exception of parts of state route 261, cleaned by Kent.

“We are completely stocked and ready to go,” said Christine Myers, public information specialist at the ODOT’s District 4 about this year’s salt supply.

She said Portage County will have 17 snow removing equipment pieces available this season and that the department will use salt, brine and calcium chloride to prevent the roads from freezing at low temperatures.

Myers said the department encourages drivers to avoid distractions and learn about their vehicles capabilities, specially in the winter season. She added drivers should keep a distance from both other drivers and vehicles removing snow from the road.

Scott said although she has to deal with traffic in the streets, potholes and the snow when driving to Kent, she is not concerned about this winter season, and gave some advice to other drivers.

“I think this is going to be like every other winter,” Scott said. “There’s just going to be snow and you are going to have to deal with it, go slow and pay attention in what you are doing.”