The City of Buffalo is equipped and ready for the snow. That was the message delivered this morning by mayor Byron Brown and public works commissioner Steve Stepniak at the Broadway barn, where officials conducted their annual inspection of the city's snow-cleaning vehicles.
Stepniak says every plow and salter hitting the streets this winter will be equipped with global positioning system equipment so crews back at the base can track the trucks' progress.
"What it does is it registers what's been taken care of already, what (streets) we've gone down," said Stepniak. "When you have a transfer of shifts, you know exactly what's been accomplished. That's very important for all the managers here, to know what's been addressed and what hasn't, to keep things flowing smoothly."
This winter, the city will employ 64 drivers and equipment operators, who will utilize 50 truck plows, 14 high-lift plows and five trucks for hauling snow. Stepniak suggested the streets department is close to completing an arrangement that will allow them to utilize the city's street cameras as an additional tool in their snow-cleaning efforts.
"The slogan 'hard work, high tech' is very important to the men and women of the streets department, because it is about hard work," said Stepniak. "The technology we have helps us do our job, it helps us monitor our job, helps us be more proficient in our job, but it comes down to hard work and a lot of time on the roadway."
