(Lindenwold, NJ) – Well in advance of the first sign of precipitation, preparations have already been underway at the Camden County Department of Public Works (CCDPW) to respond to inclement conditions on area roadways.
“As soon as soon as there’s winter weather in the forecast, our CCDPW crews start checking the plows and loading the salt trucks in preparation,” said Freeholder Susan Shin Angulo, liaison to the CCDPW. “Even though we aren’t expecting the first snowflakes to fall until tomorrow morning, our crews have been hard at work to keep traffic moving in Camden County.”
Current forecasts show a storm capable of delivering two to four inches of snow moving across our area beginning between 8 and 11 a.m. Snow is expected to be dense and plowable, falling at a consistent rate before transitioning to sleet and ice pellets between 3 and 6 p.m. A shift to freezing rain is expected sometime later in the evening and temperatures are expected to rise back above freezing between 8 and 11 p.m.
At the public works complex in Lindenwold, more than 100 pieces of equipment are available to keep county roadways passable. When the weather becomes treacherous, personnel will be dispatched to 12 winter maintenance districts to salt and plow 1,200 lane miles of roadways across Camden County. The county’s response plan calls for crews to be dispatched only to the zones where they are needed.
“If you don’t have to travel, please stay off the roads to give our crews the ability to effectively do their job. Anyone on the roadways during the storm should be prepared to encounter slick road conditions. Always leave at least six car lengths behind our DPW vehicles while they work, and move any cars off the street and into a driveway while we continue our operations,” Shin Angulo said. “Remember that it is illegal in New Jersey to plow or shovel snow from private property into roadways.”
In the event that the weather causes isolated power outages, please remember to immediately call your utility company so they can identify the location and coordinate crews to restore your power. Any storm has the potential to bring down trees and power lines, so residents need to be extra cognizant of any power failures. Below are numbers and contact info for the two power providers in Camden County:
- PSE&G: 1-800-436-PSEG (7734)
- PSEG website: http://pseg.com/home/customer_service/outage_info/index.jsp
- Atlantic City Electric: 1-800-833-7476
- Atlantic City Electric website: http://www.atlanticcityelectric.com/home/
- South Jersey Gas: 1-800-582-7060
- South Jersey Gas website: http://southjerseygas.com/
As always, please use 911 for emergencies only. If you see a problem on a county road, please call our 24-hour hotline at (856) 566-2980 to report it to DPW.
Continue to check www.camdencounty.com through the storm for weather and road condition updates. Information will also be provided through Facebook and Twitter.