CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) — From sleet to freezing rain and snow, the Capital Region has seen it all. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has been working around the clock to clear and treat the roadways. Shoveling, scraping, and plowing, is the name of the game with Friday’s winter storm.
Bryan Viggiani, the public information officer for NYSDOT says in the Capital Region they have a total of 190 plow trucks out on the road. They have over 400 operators and supervisors tackling this winter storm.
“It’s been a real complex storm with lots of different types of precipitation all over the greater Capital Region,” said Viggiani. Viggiani says it’s all hands on deck getting crews out on the road. They even got some extra help from crews in Long Island.
“We are prepared whether it’s putting down salt for the freezing rain and ice, or really pushing off some of the sleet. Some of the snow is really heavy but we’re able to push it off. We also have been plowing heavily in the North.”
At Mohawk Honda in Schenectady County, snow removal works like a well-oiled machine. Sales Manager John Lucas says this year it’s a little bit easier to clear the lot because of the car shortage. “We have to get the cars all warm before we can brush off the ice. Then we have the sales team go out and use the styrofoam snow brushes. We do this so we don’t scratch up the cars,” said Lucas.
Two University of Albany juniors are starting their budding career with some hard work and manual labor. Dylan Wynee and Nelson Salazar created Albany Shovel to lend a helping hand to those who need help with snow removal.
“We set up a little company to just help out the community and make a little extra money on the side. We have always been interested in entrepreneurship, so we thought this was a cool way to get our feet wet,” said Salazar.
NYSDOT says they plan to have crews out clearing and treating the roads all Friday night and throughout the weekend if needed. They are suggesting staying home, so they can do their job.
