Winter Condition Clearing in the Borough

Are the roads safe enough in the borough during the winter months for teen drivers going to school and adults going to work?

Wellsboro on average gets 50 inches of snow per year. Furthermore, Wellsboro also gets very cold in the winter months, increasing the chances of ice forming on the roads. Every morning in Wellsboro there is medium to heavy traffic, considering the population of the borough. In the morning teenagers are going to school, adults dropping kids off at school, and adults going to work. If the roads are not safe to be driven on, school is disrupted, and jobs are disrupted. How both snow and ice are dealt with is extremely important.

First off, snow is a big problem for the roads in the winter. Snow is unpredictable and dangerous. Some snowstorms are almost impossible to have cleared for the morning or be perfect for when people drive home. It is acceptable when we get close to a foot or more of snow to disrupt school and work because that is a lot of snow to deal with in usually a short amount of time. However, when we get less than half a foot of snow I believe the roads should be good enough to be traveled on in the morning. After I collected some observations I made during and after snowstorms, I realized that PennDot does a great job of clearing the snow and ensuring that the road is safe, but I believe they wait too long to start clearing the roads. To maximize efficiency I believe they wait until they believe they will only have to pass an area once or twice, but while they wait the roads are not safe. I do not think this problem is unsolvable. I do however wish that PennDot would start clearing the roads sooner than they do now.

Although snow is dangerous it is not nearly as dangerous as ice. Cars are unpredictable on snow but are unpredictable and uncontrollable on ice. I also made observations on the days we were expecting ice and the days we got ice, and I was pleasantly surprised. PennDot would put down salt on the roads before the ice even formed for starters. This makes it harder for ice to form and make less ice form. Also, when there was ice on the ground it was dealt with fast with more salt and cinder to melt the ice and give traction to vehicles. Overall PennDot does a great job of preparing and clearing ice.

In conclusion, I have made observations and others have made I believe that the roads are maintained well in the winter. I do wish to see PennDot plow the roads sooner, but the roads are dealt with fairly quickly and efficiently to make sure people's lives are not disrupted by the weather.