Riverhead highway crew clears roads, schools opt for delayed opening Tuesday

After 29 hours of plowing, sanding and salting through a foot of snow and sleet, Riverhead Highway Department crews successfully cleared main roads and secondary streets Monday following Winter Storm Fern.

However, to ensure students are safe in the event there are still unsafe road conditions, the Riverhead Central School District and Shoreham-Wading River schools elected to implement a two-hour delay before opening their doors on Tuesday.

Riverhead Highway Department Superintendent Mike Zaleski, who worked from early morning Sunday until noon Monday, assured the public the town is in great shape and all routes are open after the blizzard blanketed the entire township.

By Monday morning, Flanders had received 11.4 inches. Baiting Hollow had 10 inches and Riverhead 9.4 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

“A lot of roads I’ve seen are down to bare asphalt already, that’s a pleasant sort of surprise on a town level,” Mr. Zaleski said in a Monday, interview after some much-deserved sleep. “We stayed until the very end. We never even lost a road, we didn’t have to close anything, everything stayed passable.”

There were 36 Riverhead highway crew members working and 300 to 400 tons of salt and sand used. The toughest roads to plow were north of Route 25, which are mainly near farm fields.

Mr. Zaleski said it is common for snow drifts to form in these areas due to high winds. By daybreak, he said the wind slowed down enough for the crews to do one final clearing, re-salting and re-sanding.

“Those were the roads we have to constantly plow as we’re doing everything else, just to keep them open,” the highway superintendent said. “The sleet at the end kind of crusted the snow a little bit, and that helps slow down drifting — that actually helped us a little bit.”

Thanks to heightened awareness, there were fewer parked cars on the roads, which made the highway department’s job much easier, Mr. Zaleski said. More drivers often lead to stalled operations.

“Every little bit helps,” he said. “For us to do the best job we can, we need cooperation from the public.”

Riverhead Police Chief Ed Frost said law enforcement was in constant communication with the Riverhead Highway Department to assist with their snow removal efforts.

If a vehicle impeded the process, officers would aid in getting the car moved, Mr. Frost said.

“The notices went out early enough where people heeded the information,” the police chief said.

With the possibility of another snowstorm this coming weekend, Mr. Zaleski said the highway department is already gearing up these next four days in the event there is another winter weather event.

This entails creating more salt and sand mixtures to add vehicle traction and fixing any damaged plows. He also implored his crew to get plenty of rest.

“Whatever the case may be, we have to Band-Aid the fleet back together,” Mr. Zaleski said.

Riverhead Town Hall will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 27, at normal operating hours. Normal garbage pickup will also resume on Tuesday.