Lewiston Public Works equipment mechanic Kyle Brooks tightens a new hydraulic valve on a plow truck that needed to be replaced Friday morning inside the Adams Avenue garage. “I think I’ll buy a lottery ticket since I got this on the first try,” he said. “Not being able to see what you are doing and having to do it all by memory and feel makes it difficult, but it must be my lucky day as I got it the first try!” (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — Snowplow operators have driveways, too.
And after working around the clock during a blizzard Thursday and into Friday morning, a number of Lewiston Public Works employees headed home for a few hours of sleep — but not without first digging out their own homes.
For local Public Works departments, the past two weeks have proved challenging both for personnel and equipment. A snowstorm on Christmas and the subsequent cold spell and Thursday’s blizzard have tested plow drivers and maintenance staff.
Overtime hours are adding up while plow trucks and other equipment are going offline because of overuse — and it’s only the first week of January.
“From Christmas until now, we haven’t had a chance to stop much,” Dave Jones, director of Lewiston Public Works, said Friday. “We’re getting through it.”
Jones said he has a few employees who haven’t had a day off in two weeks. After cleaning up from one storm, the crew was playing catch-up on clearing sidewalks before Thursday’s storm that dropped a foot of snow and combined with dangerous winds.
The continued wind and snowdrifts made Friday’s cleanup that much more difficult.
As of Friday afternoon, four of Lewiston’s snowplows were down, along with one of three sidewalk plows. Jones said maintenance staff were working hard Friday, and that they were lucky the snowplows didn’t succumb until much of the work had been done.
The heater broke on one of the specialty plows Thursday. The truck’s cab kept freezing up on the driver and he couldn’t see through the windshield.
Because many employees will be taking much-needed time off, Jones said, sidewalk cleanup will likely be slow going Friday into Saturday. He said Public Works crews are trying to clean up as much as they could before temperatures plummeted again Saturday.
According to Eric Sinsabaugh, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, “Thursday’s storm will usher in some of the coldest air of the season.” He predicted wind chills will drop to 10 to 20 degrees below zero by Friday afternoon, and plunge to 20 to 30 below zero Saturday.
The National Weather Service issued a wind chill advisory in the Lewiston-Auburn area effective from 7 p.m. Friday to 11 a.m. Saturday.
The persistent wind Friday was causing the most headaches in Auburn. With its large land mass and hundreds of miles of roads, blowing snow was keeping Auburn’s plow drivers on the roads constantly.
“It’s a never-ending battle,” said Dan Goyette, director of Auburn Public Services. “We go through a road and with the wind, two hours later we have to go back out.”
His department has been spared so far this winter in terms of equipment failures. Last year, the crew lost three of four sidewalk plows, which led to a steady stream of complaints from residents. This year the department has five of five working, and no major issues with its plow trucks.
Employee overtime has been similar to Lewiston, he said. Auburn Public Services has three employee shifts. Goyette said that over the past two weeks the department has been operating 24 hours per day. Much of that is doing snow removal at night.
School openings in Lewiston and Auburn were delayed by two hours Friday and classes were canceled Thursday.
Jones said there have been five plowable snowstorms since December. He estimated that normally there are about two by this time. But despite the challenges early on this season, Jones said he and the rest of the Public Works staff aren’t looking at it any differently yet.
“It started out a little more aggressive than average years, but time will tell if that lasts,” he said. “We try to prepare as much as we can, but we really just wait until it snows and get to work.”
During stretches of winter storm activity, Jones remains active on social media, often posting updates on what the Lewiston Public Works department is dealing with.
On Friday morning, he said some of the staff members were “burning out” but were “doing their best.”
Lewiston Public Works’ presence on social media results in quick updates for residents and the opportunity for some gratitude. Many send quick online notes to Public Works employees, thanking them for the long hours of clearing roads.
Employees at City Hall sent a thank-you note to the department Friday: “Kudos to Lewiston Public Works who braved yesterday’s blizzard to keep roads open and residents safe. The long hours on the job and poor weather conditions are extremely tough! You are appreciated.”
Heading into Saturday, the cold temperatures won’t provide any relief for Public Works personnel. But looking ahead to next week, forecasters are predicting a warm-up Wednesday and Thursday.
“Nothing likes to melt at negative five degrees,” Goyette said Friday. “We need a 32-plus-degree day to blacken up the roads real well.”
The Portland Press Herald contributed to this report.
Rudie Libby, 5, right, and her friend, Thomas Dodge, 9, prepare to fire snowballs at other friends on top of a giant snowbank on Pleasant Street in Auburn on Friday while waiting for the school bus. The Sherwood Heights students, along with others across town, were waiting for buses after the school opened late to allow the city and residents to dig out from Thursday’s snowstorm. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Rudie Libby, 5, right fires a snowball at a friend while waiting for the bus to take them to school Friday morning in Auburn. Payten Dodge, 10, middle, stands on top of a giant snowbank on Pleasant Street while firing a snowball at Thomas Dodge, 9, while they wait for the bus to take them to Sherwood Heights. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Randy Pickett heaves a load of snow as he digs out his vehicle on Walnut Street in Lewiston on Friday. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
Scott Blossom, center, and Caleb Fecteau, left, stop to pick up Matt Brewster for a warm-up break while clearing snow at the Pleasant View Acres housing complex in Lewiston on Friday. “We started at 6 a.m. and are still at it,” Blossom said at 4 p.m. “We have been taking a lot of warm-up breaks,” Blossom said. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)
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