A winter they won’t forget

Public works officials talk about the challenge of all that snow

by Mark Jahne

Editor

Photos by Mark Jahne

The 2025-2026 winter dumped amounts of snow that Greater Hartford towns have not seen for many years. It required numerous “call-outs” of the public works staff who operate the trucks that plow and salt the roads.

This Newington truck features a side plow, or wing, that is ideal for plowing wide streets.

Joe Lentini is the superintendent of the Rocky Hill Highway Department. H

e said it’s been a long time since his staff experienced a winter like this. He praised their hard work and said it was not a surprise that they overcame the challenges.

“It’s been phenomenal because my highway crews and the Parks and Recreation crews do a tremendous job,” he said.

The two departments put a combined 22 people and vehicles on the road whenever there is a snow or ice event. This winter there were more of those events than there were in the past several years.

“It’s been a lot of Sundays,” Lentini added.

Snow storms this winter tended to happen on weekends. That involves extra pay but the work needs to be done to keep the roads safe. He added that despite all the storms, the Highway Department remains on budget – but not by much.

Some towns ran short of salt but that’s not the case in Rocky Hill. He was hoping for one more delivery at the time of this interview. Large storms such as the February blizzard require multiple applications of salt.

“Salt, we’re OK. We’ve done well managing our salt,” Lentini said.

“I have 15 guys who go out of the highway garage for plowing.” They don’t stop “until the snow ends and the roads are black. It’s a lot of work. The town of Rocky Hill has a tremendous crew managing snow operations.”

Snow plows in Cromwell have blades that are 11 feet long.

That means long hours behind the wheel with occasional breaks for a bite to eat and maybe a quick nap. The blizzard was tough on everyone.

“When you get four inches of snow in an hour, you’re just chasing your tail. We got 18 inches of snow in not even 10 hours,” he said.

At that rate, when the plow comes back for a second or third or fourth time, the street has as much snow on it as there was during the prior pass.

Lentini remains in close contact with the police department throughout a storm. Officers on patrol will call in trouble spots and a plow truck is sent to clear the way. Plows also respond to emergency calls to make sure the roads are passable for fire apparatus and ambulances.

“We’re out in front of them every call,” he said.

This was not the first old-fashion winter Cromwell Highway Foreman Don Quick has experienced in his 37 years on the job.

Rocky Hill used much more salt than usual this winter. Many towns had trouble getting resupplied.

“These are the winters that I grew up with, a classic New England winter. “The day after Christmas we had eight inches of snow,” he said. “We have 11 employees on the crew.”

Some of them had never seen such a winter but they were well prepared, in part by attending classes regarding snow removal and technology offered at the University of Connecticut.

“We’ve got a lot of newer guys,” Quick said. “We have a great crew of guys here. Most of the residents are complimentary. These guys do a great job all the time.”

There are seven large plow routes that are handled by large dump trucks. Other routes, including streets that are culs de sac – there are 102 of those –are cleared using smaller trucks. During the blizzard reinforcements were called in from parks, sewer and solid waste staff.

“They take their small trucks and combine them with our large trucks. It got things cleaned up faster,” Quick said.

The Sewer Department is responsible for plowing the four public schools. Big storms that occurred on weekends drove up overtime costs. Crews are staggered if the storm permits to give the drivers a chance to take a nap and have something to eat.

Quick explained that when a storm is predicted his crews spread salt on the roads to create a brine. This makes it easier to plow. Many cities and towns around the state ran low on road salt but Cromwell survived unscathed.

“We had a full [salt] barn at the beginning of winter,” he said.

The four inches of snow per hour that fell during the blizzard was the heaviest snowfall since the blizzard of 2013. The rate at the peak of that storm was six inches per hour.

Just like Rocky Hill, plows in Cromwell will be diverted from their routes if there is an emergency so that first responders need to get to that location without delay.

Snow plows in Wethersfield were sent on to the roads more than 20 times this winter for snow, ice and refreezing events.

Plow blades are 11 feet long and constructed of heavy steel. They can easily break asphalt curbing if they hit it and when the snow is piled high drivers cannot see the curb.

“I have a crew of two guys going around fixing potholes,” Quick said.

It’s also important to take good care of the trucks because they are expensive to replace. They are not only washed but treated with a salt neutralizing agent to prevent damage.

Sally Katz is the director of Wethersfield’s Physical Services Department. She said the biggest challenge of the winter was two major storms that had completely different types of snow.

The first storm dropped the light and fluffy variety. The blizzard dumped heavy, wet snow that is much more difficult to plow. She added it was the first time Connecticut experienced two storms of more than 12 inches accumulation in back-to-back weeks since 2012.

“They were difficult for any crew. The second storm was an entirely different beast,” Katz said.

Her plow drivers had to push the snow harder and move it onto grass snow shelfs. Damage to mailboxes could not be avoided.

“For many staff members this was the first morning they experienced [being called in] at 6 o’clock in the morning and not leaving for 48 hours. They were in trucks the majority of that time,” she said.

The work didn’t stop when the streets were finally cleared.

“Once the storm ends there is the push to make sure schools can open, town buildings can open … the cleanup takes place,” she said.

There was nowhere to push all this snow so crews had to remove it by truck from tighter streets and dump it elsewhere. Salt supplies ran low.

“At the beginning of the season we had a full salt shed,” Katz said.

Scheduled resupply shipments were ether delayed or only partially filled. She had to make tough decisions about when to lay down salt and how much to use.

“Our budget’s shot,” she said.

Weekend storms caused overtime costs to rise and there were multiple smaller storms and re-icing incidents that required a townwide application of salt. Wethersfield has 17 plow routes that are handed by 15 large trucks. Smaller trucks are used to clear dead-end streets and parking lots because they are more maneuverable.

Katz uses anything available to her that can move large amounts of snow including payloaders and backhoes. Safety is paramount so drivers are given breaks to eat nutritious food, make sure they are hydrated, and unwind.

Her crews are also responsible for clearing parking lots, walkways, exterior stairs and landings at the seven public schools. She prefers to use town employees to remove snow but has the flexibility to hire contractors if needed.

“We don’t have trucks in reserve,” Katz said.

Her drivers respond at a moment’s notice if they are needed to clear the way for first responders. She praised them for doing a great job under difficult conditions.

“The professionalism of the staff is really important. These guys go through a lot of additional training throughout the year,” she said. “This job is a mental and physical job. There is anxiety, there is pressure.”

Even in the worst storms plow drivers must deal with such matters as people driving, walking their dogs, jogging or otherwise out on the road. Katz said another issue is people who ignore mandatory parking bans and leave their vehicles on the road.

Driving for hours while snow is hitting the windshield affects a driver’s vision. It’s called snow blindness and this adds to the risk factor.

Robert Hillman agreed with his three colleagues. He is the highway supervisor for the town of Newington.

“We’re not used to this. We’ve had some very light winters,” he said.

Average snowfall for the season is usually around 25-30 inches. This year it was 71 inches. Big storms and frequent calls to duty wear on the staff, some of whom were brought in at 3 a.m. to deal with the major storms.

“They had some really long weeks. There were some weeks they put in 80 to 85 hours. Our overtime budget, we exceeded that by 25 percent,” he said.

“This year we’ve had over 20 events” including not just storms but icing and refreezing situations. He made sure that his drivers took regular breaks for food and rest.

The first big storm may have featured light, dry snow but that still created a challenge.

“The hardest part of the fluffy snow was the cold temperatures” that made it stick to the windshields of the plows, he said.

The wet snow dumped by the blizzard required multiple passes down every street in town.

“It’s not just one or two passes,” Hillman said.

Three of the Highway Department trucks have side plows, or “wings,” that are ideal for clearing wider streets. The town also has a large mobile snowblower that can widen lanes.

Hillman had to scramble to find enough salt for all those storms and icing events.

“We were fortunate. We had a long delay between deliveries but I was able to reach out to another vendor,” he said.

He’s still waiting for delivery of an order that was placed two months ago. It can take as much as 50 tons of salt for one storm. His frustrations include those who violate parking bans and those who shovel or blow snow from their sidewalks and driveways back onto the street.

Newington, like the other three towns, also pivots quickly to clear the way for first responders. All four of these towns are now performing pothole filling and curb repair. CL NL RHL WL