Ohio Turnpike gears up for snow with plow inspections

AMHERST TWP. — Inspectors ran down a checklist of 136 safety items Friday, examining every inch of the 24 Ohio Turnpike snowplows kept at the maintenance garage on Oberlin Road. Snow and ice are on the way. With 1,395 lane miles and 14 service plazas to cover between the Pennsylvania and Indiana state lines, Turnpike workers want to make sure they're ready. They checked plow blades, raised and lowered beds, looked at hydraulic systems, made sure taillights were in working order and double-checked radios. "Anything that you would use on an everyday automobile at home to the special controls you have on these big machines, we need to make sure they work perfectly," said Maintenance Superintendent Rex Underwood, who has 30 years of experience. Special attention went to inspecting the mechanisms that regulate how much salt goes down on the roadway. "When we turn it on and it says it's going to drop 200 pounds per lane mile, we want it to truly drop 200 pounds per lane mile," Underwood said. In an average year, crews use an average of 65,000 tons of salt and 293,000 gallons of liquid de-icer along the Turnpike. Last year, its 241 miles were hit with 54 winter storm events. Drivers spent more than 36,000 hours to clear ice and snow. "Our experienced and dedicated crews will be working hard to make sure customers have a safe driving experience on the Ohio Turnpike," said Director of Field Operations Chris Matta. "After all, the safest place to be on the road is behind a snow plow." Underwood said plow drivers and Turnpike customers share responsibility for safety. He said that if a storm is on the way and you absolutely must travel, be sure to allow extra time, stay off your phone and keep extra distance from other vehicles. Ideally, motorists should keep at least 100 feet behind plows, he said. That gives enough room for salt to spread without damaging other vehicles, and enough time to stop if there's an emergency. Most importantly, slow down when winter weather strikes, Underwood said. "If I had a magic wand and I could, probably the biggest thing I would change is the speed some of these commercial trucks are traveling," he said — no matter how large your vehicle, following the speed limit will go a long way toward assuring everyone gets home. With enough experience, plow drivers become great forecasters. Underwood said he believes this winter will be average, "as long as those wind directions don't change over the Great Lakes." Adam Greenslade, director of government affairs for the Turnpike, agreed. He said Northeast Ohio has lucked out over the past five years with mostly light snowfalls, and he hopes it stays that way. The Ohio Turnpike uses all full-time drivers — none are seasonal. Underwood said his crews are already well-staffed, with only five more needed across the breadth of the state. That puts the Turnpike in a better spot than the Ohio Department of Transportation, which is desperate for seasonal help to bolster its full-time and auxiliary drivers. ODOT has been scrambling to fill about 500 positions in the past week. That task hasn't been easy, given the pressures COVID-19 has placed on the labor market. "Like every other employer right now, we are struggling to find qualified workers to fill these positions this year," said ODOT Director Jack Marchbanks. "We're doing everything we can to recruit the help we need to supplement our winter operations, but we do have concerns about finding drivers and mechanics in this challenging job market." The need in Lorain County isn't quite so dire as elsewhere, but there are open positions that need to be filled, according to spokeswoman Kaitlyn Thompson. Twenty full-time drivers are based out of the local ODOT garage on state Route 511 just west of Oberlin, she said. Eight seasonal drivers had been hired there as of Thursday, but several more are needed. Statewide, ODOT is conducting 150-point inspections on its plow trucks and winter equipment over the next couple of weeks. In Lorain County, those inspections are scheduled for Tuesday, Thompson said. In a typical year, 3,300 drivers take to the state's fleet of 1,698 trucks to clear roads of snow. Last year, ODOT crews put 9.1 million winter miles on the tires, logging more than 1 million hours. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.