At the start of the winter season, Valley Stream had a stock pile of 550 tons of salt for our 92 miles of village roadways. To date, we have purchased and used well in excess of 1,000 tons to keep pace with the extremely harsh road conditions.

As reported in the press, the state contractor who supplies municipalities with salt had for weeks been unable to fulfill its obligations. Valley Stream acquired salt from Nassau County to help replenish its supply.

Please don’t take it personally

Probably the biggest complaint that we receive when our roadways are being plowed is, “you plowed in my driveway!” Does this happen? Unfortunately, yes, but here’s why: our plows are sent down our village streets multiple times through any given storm, depending on the amount of snow or ice that is falling. In order to keep the roads clear, the snow is pushed along the side of the road. Sadly, driveways end up in the “wake” of our plows. We must take into consideration the safety of vehicles travelling the roadways, and clearing from curb to curb is our priority. With the extraordinary amount of snowfall we have had this winter, coupled with the freezing temperatures that have prevented it from melting, visibility becomes a concern as well. We can only pile the snow so high without creating more hazards.

Another concern that is often expressed to us is, “The plows are moving too fast/too slow.” Heavy equipment such as snow plows and pay loaders move heavy amounts of snow and ice. Often, the rate of speed that they travel is determined by the type of snow they are moving. Just as you adjust yourself when shoveling dry powdery snow versus the wet, heavy stuff, so do our vehicles.

What can residents do?

There are ways in which you can help keep our roads safe and passable. First, please keep your vehicles off the street during a storm. This is vital in allowing our plows to clear from curb to curb without having to return unnecessarily to complete the job.