Town Ready for Winter

The Town of Matthews Public Works Department is ready if winter does finally decide to send us snow. The department begins preparing for winter in the fall. Crews get a refresher course in how to operate the Town’s snow equipment by hooking up plows to the trucks, loading the salt spreaders and practicing driving the equipment on town streets.

  "These are heavy and difficult pieces of equipment to operate safely, and drivers need to get a refresher on how the trucks drive and feel with the equipment attached. A plow adds nearly 8 feet to the front length of a truck, and it takes practice to operate with this extra length safely", said Public Works Director Ralph Messera. "We have an experienced team, but it takes practice every year,” he added.   The Town has two large plows and spreaders, operated on two dump trucks, and two small plows for use on pick-up size trucks. The town also uses a salt brine system for use on the streets before a winter storm event to reduce ice sticking to the roads. Brine is applied to bridges, and problem road areas such as those with hills.