City, DOT preparing for snowstorm Sunday night into Monday

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Road crews geared up and loaded up with salt Friday as the Rochester area braced for predicted heavy snow on Sunday night and Monday.

“We have the resources. We have drivers in place. We have our operators,” declared Joe Leathersich with the New York State Department of Transportation. “We are a nimble agency. And we kind of have to be, given how quickly weather can roll in to our area.”

At the DOT’s facility in East Rochester, the plow trucks have been loading up with salt more than 48 hours before the expected big snow dump.

The DOT says it has 109 trucks ready to roll on the state roads and interstate highways of its Region 4, which covers Monroe, Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Livingston, Wayne and Ontario Counties.

Likewise, the City of Rochester’s operations department is planning to have all its people ready to go Sunday night before the flakes fly.

“When everything is going, main arterials, residential roads, sidewalks, we have upwards of about 200 vehicles out there,” said Rochester Operations Director Karen St. Aubin.

The DOT insists it won’t have any problems with an ongoing challenge for government offices and private businesses, the nationwide manpower shortage, declaring it’s in “good shape.”

“We were able to pull resources,” Leathersich said. “We are in constant communication with other agencies, other regions. And, are able to fill the gaps as needed.”

Officials say they, and motorists, may get a break from the fact that this is a holiday weekend when fewer people will be out and about.

They’re also asking drivers to stay home if possible and, if they are on the road, to please give the snowplows plenty of room.

They also say this kind of storm may be a jolt for us, but won’t be for them.

“Believe it or not, there’s been about 25 inches of snow this season,” St. Aubin said. “We are out on these roads all the time. This will be the first major snowstorm for the season, but not our first major storm.”

Planners said they would be working with the National Weather Service to nail down exactly when the snowfall was expected to get heavy but, for now, they plan to start their crews working on Sunday evening.

—————————————

Download the WHEC First Alert Weather app to stay up to date while on the go.

Watch the latest full forecast at whec.com/weather.