Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow!
That’s the refrain of school kids who want a non-COVID-related excuse to stay out of school. However, for the people that run cities like High Point, the white stuff falling from the sky means a lot more work than play.
On Friday night, Jan. 14, the City of High Point announced the ways that it’s preparing for the winter weather forecasted for Sunday, Jan.16.
High Point keeps the following vehicles around for just such an occasion: three motor graders, 15 plow trucks, 15 salt spreaders and four brine trucks. During the storm, the High Point Street Maintenance and Stormwater Divisions will oversee the snow and ice removal for about 500 lane-miles of roadway.
High Point keeps on hand a stockpile of about 800 tons of de-icing salt and thousands of gallons of salt brine.
On Friday evening, Jan. 14, the city began applying salt brine to major roads and to bridges and overpasses. That brine is meant to help prevent snow from sticking to the pavement and it also makes plowing and additional salting more effective.
At 7 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 16 – the day when the ice and snow are expected to fall – a crew of 25 workers will begin a full-day shift.
According to the statement released by the city, the workers will start spreading salt on bridges and overpasses as snow and ice accumulate. The next step will be to salt priority routes throughout the city.
The city’s crew is likely to begin plowing when at least one inch of snow has accumulated on the roads.
During major storm events like this one is expected to be, the street maintenance and stormwater divisions work around the clock in 12-hour shifts.
High Point Public Services Manager Justin Gray stated the following about this year’s storm: “As the storm tracks closer, we will begin to stage equipment and crews, most likely Saturday evening, to prepare for plowing/salting roadways and continue to work through the storm event until roadways are clear.”
High Point officials also announced that the city will be constantly monitoring the weather forecast to assess the storm and will “make adjustments as needed.”
We’re all snugged in with beer, milk, bread, & cigarettes.
After all these years, it finally dawned on me to put some refrigerated food in a cooler, and place it outside. So in case of a power failure, we wouldn’t have to open the fridge.
As a sidebar, I recently noticed the the CPI figures for 2021 are now the official govt version of 7% annualized inflation rate. Anybody buy that? The 2nd most expense in our lifetimes is transportation. Wanna drive some where? Gas was up 53% last year. Don’t you just love your big honking SUV-BUS-VAN-PICKUP-PLASTIC CHROME thing now? Wanna buy a more economical top-rated used car? Prices for those are up 37% (that is an extra $3,700 on a $10,000 used car), if you can find one. Need a house? Price of lumber is up 45%. Coffee? Up 87%. Milk 25%. Corn 12%. And so forth.
All those past & future govt goodies are not freebies from the rich, it is from our earnings. Pensioners, and soon the middle class, are being wiped out. People can’t afford a house or an apartment.
So go ahead and vote yourself a free lunch.
Really Mr. Forester at your age don’t you know that anything the government gives people that it’s free. snicker snicker