With many regions already seeing measurable snow this season and lake-effect snow falling in Western New York on Monday, state officials said they are prepared for this year’s winter weather with new investments in infrastructure and manpower.
They said they are taking into account changing weather patterns associated with climate change as they develop strategies and programs geared toward managing New York’s winter weather. But they said thanks to several factors related to infrastructure funding in the 2023 budget, they feel better prepared this year than in winters past.
“When there’s a hint of a flake starting to fall, we get our people and our equipment ready,” state Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said.
From manpower to salt, she said the DOT has what it needs for the upcoming winter season.
“We have an outstanding group of individuals who have come on board,” she said. “We have hired over 400 over the last year.”
She said when it comes to plow drivers, hiring issues experienced last year have been overcome, in part, through increasing wages and using competitive hiring strategies.
“Last year, we were short by a couple hundred. This year, and this is statewide, we’re looking for about another 100 operators,” she said.
With many Western New Yorkers experiencing lake-effect snow and last year’s blizzards still in mind, Jackie Bray, commissioner of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, said the state is prepared to assist in any way necessary.
“The state will be there hand and glove, with all of our county partners,” she said.
She said the department, as well as the DOT, have spent the summer deconstructing the state’s response to those blizzards in Buffalo, including the deadly Christmas storm, and have been implementing strategies developed alongside local officials.
“We have put a lot of those recommendations to work, including several large-scale table top exercises with officials in Erie County and the city of Buffalo in the lead up to the season,” she said.
At the same time, the state is preparing for after the storms subside, with Hochul authorizing funding for road repairs made necessary by the freeze and thaw cycles of a New York winter and the more extreme weather.
That program will begin this coming spring, and is part of the $32.8 billion authorized in the 2023 state Budget for five years worth of infrastructure improvements.
It includes only state roads in every region of the state. The funding is allocated to varying degrees from region to region.
For example, the Southern Tier is getting the most funding at $19.5 million, while the Capital Region will receive $8.7 million, with most of the funding going to the complete resurfacing of large portions of these roads.