Ride along with Prince George's Co. plow truck during dry run training exercise as county prepares for winter.@wtop pic.twitter.com/WhgxXLIb5J
— Kathy Stewart (@KStewartWTOP) October 23, 2015
Snow plows rolling in PG Co. No snow - that doesn't matter. It's a dry run, preparing for winter's onslaught. @wtop pic.twitter.com/BX2RMAFdxP
— Kathy Stewart (@KStewartWTOP) October 23, 2015
Command center for PG Co where coordination and communications happen during winter weather emergencies. @wtop pic.twitter.com/iDJsx5bqes
— Kathy Stewart (@KStewartWTOP) October 23, 2015
FORESTVILLE, Md. — If you see snowplows rolling down the streets in Prince George’s County on Friday, you might start scratching your head: It’s fall, and there’s no snow on the ground.
But the snowplows were out in force Friday, hitting the county’s streets beginning about 4 a.m.
“This is our preparation for the upcoming snow and ice season,” says Paulette Jones, spokeswoman for the county’s Department of Public Works and Transportation.
It’s the county’s annual dry run to get prepared for winter’s onslaught and test out the county’s weather emergency procedures before the bad winter hits.
“We’re going to be inspecting our roads, inspecting our vehicles and just really just preparing for the upcoming snow and ice season,” she says.
DPW & T Director Darrell Mobley says in a statement that this is all about ensuring this winter season that roadways are clear and safe for motorists:
“Last year, DPW & T staff worked 18 snow and ice events. This winter weather season, we will continue to work to ensure that our roadways are cleared and safe for the motorists in Prince George’s County, and we will also take a proactive approach to enhance communications with the residents.”
Jones says the dry run gives the plow drivers a chance to get familiar with their assigned routes.
“We have 1,900 miles of country roadway that we’ll be covering today. We have five districts.”
Jones says they didn’t send out their entire fleet — about 130 of the 250 county’s plows hit the streets on Friday.
This was a chance to test the county’s Automated Vehicle Locator system, which tracks where snow vehicles are and where they’ve been, monitored from the command center.
The state-of-the art command center, also called the TRIP Center (for Traffic Response and Information Partnership), in Forestville, is the hub for the department’s snow emergency response communication and coordination.
Snowplow driver Ronald Terrell, who took part in Friday’s exercise, has been driving a snowplow for the county for nine and a half years. He says the greatest challenge plow drivers face is parking. County residents, he adds, can help out by parking only on the even-numbered sides of residential streets when there’s snow.
Also, if you’re driving behind a plow truck, keep your distance, Terrell says — they’re plowing and laying down salt at the same time. “Give the salt time to hit the roadway and give the cars and vehicles some traction,” he says.
More than 400 DPW & T workers, engineers, administrative staff and bus drivers took part in the annual dry run, as well as crews from other partner agencies.
A similar dry run involving about 700 drivers was also set for the District Friday morning.
