Dense snow strands plows, clogs roads as cleanup expected to drag through Tuesday

Historic heavy snow stranded plows, damaged equipment and clogged roads on Monday, as highway crews in some towns expected to still be clearing streets through Tuesday and beyond.

With travel bans in both Suffolk and Nassau counties keeping roads — mostly — free of automobiles and drivers, hundreds of plows and workers passed through thousands of lanes.

Stephen Canzoneri, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said state roadways are primarily clear and urged Long Islanders not to plow, shovel or blow snow back into the roadway.

Doing so, he said, creates a potential hazard and can ice over.

But not all roads could be cleared.

About 50 plows and trucks worked in East Hampton to clear the snow, "but they can't do anything because it's so heavy," Highway Superintendent Stephen Lynch said.

Some of the trucks had gotten stuck. "We've been pulling them out with payloaders," he said, which also have been used to clear roads.
The town imposed a travel ban until 9 p.m. Monday, but Lynch said it would likely be extended.

In Brookhaven, crews were planning to work through Monday night into Tuesday, Highway Supervisor Dan Losquadro said. He predicted roads would not be completely cleared until late Tuesday.

Brookhaven had about 450 pieces of equipment on the roads, he said, including 250 town trucks and 200 trucks contracted by the town.

"It’s just going to take time," he said Monday afternoon.

Huntington Supervisor Ed Smyth said the town prioritizes the major routes to Huntington Hospital, and that the most challenging areas to plow are the numbered streets in Huntington Station and in Centerport because they are narrow.

Smyth said the areas farthest east and south in the town were the heaviest hit. "I think the lightest areas of the town got a foot of snow," he said. "It’s really just a question: ‘Did you get one or two feet of snow?'"

Riverhead Town Supervisor Jerry Halpin said he was extending the town’s travel ban until 6 a.m. Tuesday. There had been several instances of cars stuck in drifting snow, he said, particularly north of Route 25.
"It’s still incredibly dangerous to be out there," Halpin said Monday afternoon. "People are going to think the road looks good, but it’s not worth it."

There was a strategy on when to plow — and when not to — in the Town of Hempstead.

Town Supervisor John Ferretti said that while crews plowed for hours Sunday night into Monday, the town timed a state-mandated break for them at 4 a.m., "a time when the snow and the wind was at its worst, because we were fearful that we’d have to pull them off the road if there were whiteout conditions."

The town also prepared for coastal flooding but only saw "minimal" issues, Ferretti said.

Like other officials Islandwide, he advised drivers to stay off the roads.

"If people try to go out in this, unless they have a monster truck, you're almost certainly going to get stuck at some point," Ferretti said.

Babylon Town spokesman Ryan Bonner said the dense, heavy snow was creating equipment challenges, he wrote in a text, including increased wear and tear on plow blades and vehicles becoming stuck in the snow.

Bonner said workers will remain out "around the clock" and estimated snow removal to take at least 48 hours in order for roads to be "passable." Beyond that, he said snow clearing will extend well into the weekend and likely into next week.

There were also challenges out east.

In Southold, Highway Superintendent Dan Goodwin said workers’ efforts were often hampered by equipment breakdowns, he said. "When you’re dealing with a snowfall of this magnitude, you’re going to expect to have quite a bit of mechanical issues and on top of it, this was a very wet snow so it’s extremely heavy."

Ryan Murphy, Southampton’s emergency manager, said snow blows from open agricultural spaces like farms onto plowed roadways.

In some places, snow can accumulate to 5 or 6 feet, even though the actual snowfall is far less.
“It’s a lot,” he said.