Brick Officials Say Town Ready For Slippery, Icy Weather

Local officials are warning residents and motorists to beware of hazardous driving conditions later today into Tuesday, as forecasters are calling for sleet and freezing rain starting with the evening commute.

The National Weather Service says a winter weather advisory issued Sunday remains in effect for the region through 6 a.m. Tuesday. Precipitation from the southern portion of the winter storm that’s expected to dump more snow on New England is expected to start around 3 or 4 p.m., according to Weather Underground, and that precipitation combined with temperatures hovering around freezing will make for slippery surfaces.

At the Township Council meeting last week, Brick Township Councilman Jim Fozman said the town had just received an order of 600 tons of road salt. Fozman, liaison to the public works department, said that amount of salt is enough for six applications to the township’s 700 miles of roads, as it takes 100 tons of road salt to cover them once.

Mayor John Ducey praised the public works crews for their efforts in snow removal during the Jan. 27 storm, saying that it took the crews 13 hours to clear the roads. He acknowledged there were some residents who complained that their streets were not plowed, but said what happened was the streets that were plowed first were covered again very quickly because the snowfall was so heavy.

“We got 10 inches of snow, the most in the state,” he said.

Ducey and Council Vice President Heather de Jong thanked residents for moving their cars off the street and staying home during the storm, which aided in snow removal and emergency response.

Costs for the snow removal were not available at the Feb. 3 council meeting as contractors were still turning in their invoices, Business Administrator Joanne Bergin said, but the order of road salt cost $67.85 per ton, according to the township’s purchasing agent, Maryann Jusinski, a total of $40,710.

The weather service warns visibility in the storm will be less than a half-mile at times in snow and freezing rain, which will be accompanied by a northeast wind at 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 30 mph.