Kent, Portage County road crews prepared for winter

[rpavideo caption=”In this video, TV2 reporter David Hrvatin shows how the City of Kent and Portage County prepare for winter and the resources required to do so.”]RPA_04_Hrvatin_SnowPreps[/rpavideo]

Snow preparation cost depends on winter weather conditions

By Sade Hale

KENT, OH–Clearing snow and ice off of busy roads isn’t easy, and the cost of road clean up isn’t cheap.  Yet winter weather conditions play a major role in snow removal cost for the city of Kent and Portage County. If the city has a mild winter, with little snow, the city is able to save on cost.

Gerald Shanley, Facilities Manager and City Forester for the city of Kent, says the operating budget varies depending on each winter season, but the total cost of snow remove is “around $100,000 when employee pay, overtime pay, and the cost of salt and fuel” are totaled. However Shanley says the city has been able to save on salt cost because of the previous two winters were mild winters.  Yet salt usage and cost could easily double.

“We have a capability to store between 4 [thousand] and 5,000 tons of salt in our barn. Basically that is typically what is needed per season. Our last two winters have been pretty mild, so there has been a significant savings with salt usage. So we have been using a 1,000 tons less per year in the last two seasons. You could go through a lot of salt if you have a storm that comes in and last for three or four days,” Shanley said.

Shanley says the city of Kent has about a total of “200 street miles” to plow and salt when counting every road and every lane. To save on salt usage and fuel the city has made an agreement with the Ohio Department of Transportation and Portage County. With this agreement the city of Kent, ODOT, Franklin Township and Portage County are responsible for certain roads. Shanley says the agreement has helped the city “tremendously.”

“The reason we did this is because the Ohio Department of Transportation would come down State Route 43 from Brimfield and do part of that. Then we used to have the 261 responsibility. They would have to turn their salt stuff off, go down 261 East heading towards Ravenna and pick up a part of 59 then turn their spreader off.  Come all the way through Kent then come out on State Route 43 passed the high school. Turn their salt back on and hit that portion of 43 between Kent and Streetsboro. So what we did, we picked up that for them. It saves them a lot of travel time. It’s easier for them to do the 261 and 43. So it has worked out pretty well in the last couple years,” Shanley said. “Same thing with the county we have an agreement with them with Summit Street South of 261 and we also work with them on Mogadore road, the Kent portion South of 261. It’s like we just trade off and help each other out. It’s been really good. It has worked out really well. So far it seems to be working.”

[pullquote]I would say that snow and ice could cost anywhere from $300,000 to a million dollars a year and more if it is a really bad winter. — Anthony Zumbo[/pullquote]

The Portage County road crews are responsible for all county roads. These roads are outside of cities and villages and are usually the heavy traffic roads  in the townships. Anthony Zumbo, Planning and Design Engineer for the Portage County Engineer’s Office, says the county is responsible for about “370 miles of road and about 170 bridges.”

“For snow and ice, we have 20 plow routes. So we have 20 trucks and 20 drives. We divided the county up in routes. In general, it usually takes three to four hours to go around your entire route. There are 15 to 20 miles a piece, each one of the routes,” Zumbo said.

The cost of county snow removal also depends on winter weather conditions.

“I would say that snow and ice could cost anywhere from $300,000 to a million dollars a year and more if it is a really bad winter,” Zumbo said. “If we have a bad winter we are going to need more [salt]. Last year was like an average winter. If it is a mild winter we get to save money. Currently it’s like $27 a ton which is cheap, it’s down. Last year we were paying almost $35 a ton so it dropped off significantly.”

While some cities in Northeast Ohio cities used alternative de-icing methods like beet juice, the city of Kent is sticking to salt. Shanley says he doesn’t know how environmental friendly the beet juice de-icing method is, but he says the alternative is very expensive.

However, Portage County has found a cost-effective way to de-ice roads. The county has created a salt and grit mix. The mixture is made out of finely ground stone and then mixed with salt to help the traction on car tires. Zumbo says the salt and grit mix is commonly used “on lower volume roads, with less traffic.” The county uses traditional salt on higher volume roads with more traffic. Zumbo also says “it’s cheaper to use the salt and grit mix as opposed to straight salt.”

Both Zumbo and Shanley are hoping for another mild winter because another mild winter will keep cost down.

“You look at the forecast, they have been wrong the last two years. This year some are saying cold plus snow, more snow, cold. But because of Lake Erie and the great lakes we get a lot of cold air coming down from Canada. That is going to generate our forecast, to me it is a hard prediction. I can’t make that. I am not a meteorologist. A couple of degrees how the winds are blowing on the lake can determine if we are going to get one inch or six inches. I am hoping it is another mild one. I’m hoping to get three more,” Shanley said.