Officials on Thursday warned the bulk of Montgomery County’s snow plowing and removal activities may not occur until the snow stops falling on Sunday.
County Executive Ike Leggett said the county is preparing for snowfall measuring from 12 to 30 inches starting Friday afternoon at about 3 p.m. and potentially lasting into Sunday morning.
With blizzard conditions and poor visibility expected through much of the day Saturday, the Highway Services division of the county’s Department of Transportation (MCDOT) may not be able to put all of its 500 pieces of equipment to maximum use until Sunday.
“A blizzard means blowing snow. It means that even after a street is plowed, it can become covered again by drifting snow,” Leggett said. “We may have to go back repeatedly to make sure we have the conditions where we want them.”
MCDOT operates seven depots throughout the county and has a total of about 100,000 tons of salt.
A press event Thursday on the county’s preparations for the storm was held at its Equipment Maintenance & Operations Center just north of Shady Grove Road in Rockville. Leggett, Acting MCDOT Director Al Roshdieh and Highway Services Chief Richard Dorsey stood in front of a new salt barn the county proclaimed is the largest east of the Mississippi River.
“We’re ready for the event. We’re ready for the challenge,” Dorsey said. “We just ask the residents of Montgomery County to be patient and allow us to perform our activities.”
The county’s snow plowing operation focuses on clearing primary county roads during a storm before turning its attention to clearing neighborhood streets, typically only after a snow storm ends. Leggett said residents could keep up with the progress of plow crews on the county’s storm operation map.
Snow total predictions from the National Weather Service
Dorsey said 275 employees will be working throughout the event and the county expects to use outside contractors. Roshdieh said he expects to ramp up snow hauling operations Sunday in the county’s central business districts.
Last winter, the county spent $9.1 million on snow removal and other storm clean-up operations.
Based on a rough estimate that clearing one inch of snow is equivalent to $1 million, Leggett said he expects this weekend’s storm to “go beyond our immediate budget,” though he said “we will not spare expenses in trying to assure we get a hold of this snow.”
Leggett and Roshdieh also emphasized that the county is not responsible for plowing state roads such as the Capital Beltway, I-270, Rockville Pike or Connecticut Avenue.
While 12 trucks from Montgomery County’s Highway Services division pretreated county roads with a salt brine solution before Wednesday night’s snow, the State Highway Administration (SHA) didn’t pretreat its roads in the county.
That led to sharp criticism from drivers and a state delegate representing Bethesda. When asked how he would rate the job the SHA did Wednesday, Leggett said “they did a pretty good job,” but “I don’t think they are at the level that we would want.”
Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday declared a state of emergency in Maryland starting 7 a.m. Friday.
Montgomery County has already determined parking in all county lots and garages will be free starting at noon Friday until at least 9 a.m. Monday.
Leggett said a decision on whether to close county government Friday would be announced either Thursday evening or Friday morning.
Roshdieh reminded residents to move their parked cars off of all emergency snow routes.
