BRISTOL, Conn. — After a rainy Thursday morning in Bristol, the changeover to snow happened during the morning commute around 7 a.m.
That's when the Department of Public Works was able to get out on the roads and start throwing some salt down. Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano said they didn't get the chance to pretreat the roads on Wednesday because the rain would have washed it away.
Once the snow picked up, the main strategy was to spread the salt. Caggiano said with so many hills in Bristol, those areas become a main focus for crews. Each plow driver has about 14 miles of road to cover, so it does take time.
In terms of having the staff to get out there on the roads, Caggiano said they're not seeing a staffing shortage. On the state level and in some towns and cities, they are dealing with some problems with finding plow drivers.
"Right now knock on wood, we're doing pretty well. I think everybody is dealing with the endemic of COVID and positive cases," Caggiano said. "And luckily, too, people aren't getting really sick but they still have to quarantine and we have special rules and our emergency services including public works, which would be our plow drivers. So, right now we don't have a shortage, I hope that continues and things tend to be looking better on the COVID front, too."
After Thursday morning's weather event, the concern now the change over to colder temperatures over the next couple of days. In Bristol, they have several warming centers, including the Bristol Public Library and the Bristol Senior Center. For more information on warming centers across Connecticut, contact Infoline 211.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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