Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Snowplow crews face challenge, again

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 06 Jan 2003 13:35:50 -0500

Snowplow crews face challenge, again

 By Peter Demarco, Globe Correspondent, 1/4/2003

 Scott Karpinski settled down in his office chair yesterday afternoon for yet another
snowstorm.
 And if all went according to plan, Karpinski is still awake right now, gabbing with his
drivers on
 two-way Nextel phones, downing a Coke and hamburger for breakfast, and flipping from one
 television station to the next to get the read on just how much snow fell.

 ''I'm up all night. There's no sleep here,'' Karpinski, general manager of J. Marchese
and Sons Inc.,
 a snow-plowing business based in Everett, said early last night. ''If you stay
uncomfortable, you stay
 awake. Ever try sleeping in a chair? You can't.''

 Karpinski wasn't the only one who didn't sleep last night, as thousands of plow drivers
statewide
 worked through dawn clearing roads of another moderate wallop from Mother Nature.

 Downtown Boston was expected to have escaped the worst of the storm, while suburbs within
the
 Route 128 belt were expected to see from 4 to 8 inches of snow. But Western Massachusetts
and
 southern New Hampshire were getting dumped on as early as mid-afternoon yesterday, with
 forecasters predicting a foot or more of snow by this morning in some areas. Flurries
were
 expected to continue in parts of Massachusetts, especially along the coast, through
midday.

 Massachusetts Highway trucks were squirting liquid calcium chloride to prevent icing on
bridges in
 the western part of the state as early as 6 a.m. yesterday. By 5 last night, some 1,400
pieces of
 state equipment were on the roads, with a couple thousand more readying to go. But it
still wasn't
 enough to prevent a mess of a commute for westbound Mass. Turnpike drivers, with several
 reports of cars spinning out and going off the road during rush hour, according to State
Police. One
 tractor-trailer rolled over on the Pike in Westfield, but no serious injuries were
reported, police
 said.

 Still, John Cogliano, commissioner of the state Highway Department, was focused on the
positives
 last night. Because it is a holiday week, the rush-hour commute was lighter than usual,
he said.
 Also, crews will be able to clean up more quickly this morning because it is a weekend,
he
 predicted.

 On the other hand, skiers determined to head for the mountains yesterday got snarled in
snow and
 traffic.

 ''Route 9 was bumper to bumper from Northampton through Hadley,'' said Amherst resident
Jon
 Hite, who said it took him 1 hour and 15 minutes to travel 9 miles home last night.

 Hite, who is executive director of the Northampton Housing Authority, said plow crews for
his
 properties were tired before the height of the storm hit yesterday because of the
abundance of
 wintry weather this season. ''We would love a few weeks of a break. We would settle for a
few
 days,'' he said.

 But others said they couldn't dream of stopping - even for a moment.

 ''You really caught me at a bad time,'' said Paul Chase, owner of Lang's Corner Garage in
Rye,
 N.H., before he hung up the phone yesterday afternoon. ''My yard is full of trucks being
repaired,
 and people at the counter waiting for parts.''

 This story ran on page B4 of the Boston Globe on 1/4/2003.

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/004/metro/Snowplow_crews_face_challenge_againP.shtml

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