A few inches of snow arrive in December and you would think it was the end of the world. Modern weather forecasting is accurate enough to look to the following day, which in this case called for a temperature of 57 degrees with no temperatures below freezing for the next three days. I’m not a scientist, but last I checked, snow melts at 57 degrees.
When I was young, people had real snow tires and sometimes studded ones. People were prepared and they didn’t anticipate racing down the road at 60 mph 10 seconds after the last flake hit the ground. Somewhere along the line we got litigious and soft. There was personal responsibility and that involved preparation.
Instead, the forces are assembled, overtime is paid, thousands of gallons of diesel are burned, dry roads are repeatedly plowed, the pavement is torn up and tens of thousands of dollars are spent on removing what would have melted in a few hours. Not to mention the fact that tons of salt are mainlined into all our streams and, ultimately, the Hudson River. Western states do not do this, nor do any of the Nordic countries.
I understand that children need to get to school, and we do have the dreaded East Mountain roads to contend with. A better way to deal with this is the use of magnesium brine, which is often applied before the storm for small snow events like this week. Magnesium is still toxic, but less than sodium, so it is not a long-term solution. There are many ways to lower the cost and impact of winter weather. We can do better.
Richard Shea, Philipstown
Shea is the former town supervisor.
