Amherst DPW sand/salt pile 4:00 PM
I can always tell when a storm is approaching as there's a run on the free sand salt pile in front of the DPW building, kind of like that run on milk and bread at the local grocery store.
Amherst stopped using sand this season but the town continues to provide it to homeowners (at least until the supply runs out).
And yes, I've been wondering if the high number of accidents on Saturday (23) could have been somewhat lessened if the town still used sand instead of switching to magnesium chloride.
Not sure if the accident would have been avoided if they used sand.. they weren't even out yet when the first accidents were reported, they were behind the ball and had to play catch up.... the storm beat them this time...
ReplyDeleteThere seems to have been a few more on Sunday as well.
ReplyDeletewhen i served in the seekonk DPW I produced over 30 videos used to train the storm crew, and i can tell you that from looking at this photo the percentage of sand to salt would not have prevented the accident even if it WAS used before saturday's beastly squall.
ReplyDeleteAmherst has been in a blinding snow storm for some time now. All the sand in the world won't make a difference.
ReplyDeleteThey did do quite a bit of sanding of the roads in Sunderland last week and it did help traction quite a bit. Not good for cars or windshields though. I didn't know anybody was really using sand anymore in a large way. Old-school but have to say it works.
Of course some of those accidents could have been prevented if sand had been used. Magnesium chloride does indeed keep snow from forming but it leaves wet roads very slick. Sand doesn't. But many towns think they are saving the earth by using it even though it's very expensive to use and is terrible to concrete, let alone rots your cars far faster.
ReplyDeleteWhatever -- I think that FDR war right, public sector employees should not be allowed to unionize.
ReplyDeleteThe ongoing garbage from the AFD's union is exhibit 1 as to why FDR was right. And personally, everytime I hear this "shut up and give us more people and more money", I want to say PRIVITIZE!!!!.
There are 20,000 college kids looking for things to put on their resumes -- a volunteer department is viable. Maybe not as competent as the current one, but we also wouldh't have to keep hearing about how we need to shut up and just give them more money.
It's not the "more money" I mind as much as the "shut up" part.
I noticed a lot of people didn't plow after Saturdays storm, and now it has turned into a sheet of ice. So some of the sand usage is in response to that. The storm tonight should be 3 - 6" of light fluffy stuff, as the temperatures are so cold.
ReplyDelete"An Arizona couple recently left homeless when their home burned to the ground couldn't believe their eyes when they received a bill for nearly $20,000 from a private fire department.
ReplyDelete'I couldn't believe it,' Justin Purcell told The Huffington Post. 'We lost our home, we just had a baby and now we're going through this. It's crazy. We don't know how we are going to come up with the money.'"
Huff Post
p.s. ...it's spelled "privatize"
There may be a problem with the clarity of one's thinking, as well as the accuracy of one's spelling, at 4:25 in the morning.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've noticed that.
ReplyDeleteNot once have I seen or heard anything that even comes close to the AFD union saying shut up. Could you be specific?
ReplyDeleteThere may be a problem with the clarity of one's thinking, as well as the accuracy of one's spelling, at 4:25 in the morning.
ReplyDeleteParticularly when you'd been in a serious accident earlier that night -- one which,but for your own driving skills, would have been fatal.
The only thing worse than a public safety employee nonchalantly the wrong way on the wrong side of a divided highway is the union rep showing up to take pictures of the wreckage so that it can be blamed on someone else.
To prevent the public from being protected. Who protects the public from the public employees? Where are OUR union reps????
Oh, it's now come out that the police have determined that his cruiser did NOT have headlights on. Something about how the filament in a bulb breaks or something, but this is the department's expert saying this.
ReplyDeleteAnd he's protected by a union.
Anyone have a problem with this?