During the winter months in Pocono Springs, it’s important to remember a few critical things regarding plowing. Understanding the methods and procedures involved can help everyone safely enjoy another beautiful winter here in the Poconos. Our PSCA maintenance crew works tirelessly to ensure that all roads in the community are cleared promptly. However, please understand that snowfalls can accumulate quickly here, and sometimes several passes will need to be made to clear things completely.

Below, we have listed important information to answer many common questions regarding snow plowing in and around Pocono Springs Estates.

Our maintenance staff is on call 24 hours a day and will plow as quickly as possible. However, the rate of snowfall, ice, visibility, time of day, moisture content of snow, and mechanical difficulties all contribute to when and how we plow. Also, there are variables such as curves, terrain, trees, slope, and turnaround areas. Please be patient during significant storms. Our crews are out plowing and trying to get you plowed out as fast as possible. If a major storm is predicted, please make plans in the event that you cannot leave your home. Staff cannot plow private driveways or tow out any stuck vehicles.

All roads are placed on a minimum 10-foot easement or tract. The paved portion of the road is about 10 feet wide, and this means an additional area on both sides of the paved portion is part of the PSCA easement. This area is used for drainage and maintenance, including snow placement. PSCA is not responsible for any item placed and damaged within this area, including lights, landscaping, reflectors, and rocks. Please be aware that while we will try to work with you, it is not always possible to place snow where you request.

Each driver handles a particular route. The plow drivers do occasionally plow a different route than their own. What may be possible to accomplish one time may not be possible the next. We do not have agreements with any owners to plow private driveways. PSCA’s plow responsibilities end at the end of each private drive.

Storm Prep

When a major storm is predicted, work begins days before the event, when our crew performs a safety and maintenance check on all the equipment. Even though the crews maintain equipment year-round, they always do the checks before a predicted storm.

Spreading Anti-Skid and Rock Salt

• During an event where plowing is not needed but the roads need anti-skid for traction, we follow the same plowing schedule (main roads and parking areas, main section roads, tertiary roads, then mailboxes)
• On the last plowing pass of a road, once it has stopped snowing, the road will not need to be plowed again. Anti-skid is spread while plowing the last pass on any road.

Anti-skid

Anti-skid is a fine stone chip material that is purchased from local quarries. The quarry used will depend on price and ease of delivery.

Road Salt

First, road salt is simply halite — rock salt — table salt in its natural form. The difference is that table salt goes through a lengthy purification process, while rock salt does not. And because rock salt still has impurities, it’s brown or gray.

Ice forms when the­ temperature of the water reaches 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and that includes ice on roadways. Road salt works by lowering the freezing point of water via a process called freezing point depression. The freezing point of the water is lowered once the salt is added, making it more difficult for water to freeze. A 10-percent salt solution freezes at 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and a 20-percent solution freezes at 2 degrees Fahrenheit.

The key is there has to be at least a tiny bit of water on the road for freezing point depression to work. That’s why you often see PennDOT trucks pre-treat roads with a brine solution (a mixture of salt and water) when ice and snow are forecast. It likely won’t make much difference if the roads are dry and the crews put down road salt.

Rock salt is one of the most widely used road de-icers, but it’s not without critics. For one, rock salt has its limits. If the temperature of the roadway is lower than about 15 degrees Fahrenheit, the salt won’t have any effect on the ice. The solid salt can’t get into the structure of the frozen water to start the dissolving process. In these cases, we typically spread sand on top of the ice to provide traction.

Rock salt also has significant environmental issues, including sodium and chlorine leaching into the ground and water. And as we mentioned earlier, because rock salt isn’t purified and contains contaminants — including lead, iron, aluminum, and phosphorus — when it’s spread, these are applied as well. However, rock salt remains the most widely used and affordable de-icers available. And while there are other chemical de-icers too, none are 100 percent risk-free.

PSCA uses a salt called Fire Rock. This is a regular rock salt that is treated with magnesium chloride, about 8 gallons per ton. Remember above that we stated that rock salt is ineffective after 15 degrees Fahrenheit. Well, this mixture is effective down as a low 9 to 5  degrees Fahrenheit

Because of the environmental issues and the damage to the road surface, we use a 3 to 1 mixture of anti-skid to road salt.

When a storm is predicted, all the trucks are pre-loaded so that the crews can get right out as soon as they arrive after being called. The maintenance crew members who live in the Association may take the plow trucks home so that they can go go directly to the assignments when called in.

Before the storms arrive, the crews drop anti-skid in known trouble areas. If an ice storm is predicted, the crew may lay anti-skid on all roads to help drivers when the roads freeze up.

When do we call out the snowplows?

Many times the snow comes after maintenance has gone home for the day. This is where we depend on the Public Safety Patrols for information on current conditions. The maintenance supervisor and the public safety manager work together to determine when to call the crews out.

Depending on the type of storm, the timing for calling in the maintenance crew will change. The call in the procedure is:

• In the event of an ice event, the Maintenance Supervisor will be called as soon as roads become slippery.
• When a storm is predicted to be heavy (1-2” inches per hour), the maintenance supervisor should be called once the first inch has fallen.
• The maintenance supervisor should be called when approximately 3 inches have fallen when it is slower steady snow.

Road Priorities:

• Priority 1–Main arterial streets that provide for high traffic volumes.
  • The main arterial roads are Fountain Dr., Pocono Dr., Lake Dr., and the Back Road.
  • These are classified as the main roads. All 4 maintenance units work on these first to get them open as quickly as possible. I cleared parking areas and around the gates.
• Priority 2–Section Main Roads. 
  • After the main roads are open, each driver moves into their own assigned section. This is where the drivers will open the section main roads. Examples of these roads are Spring Lane, Iroquois Ave, Gemini Tr, Apollo Dr., Mohawk Tr, Emerald Ave, Cobblewood Rd, Westside Drive, Driftwood Rd, Brantwood Rd, Timberlane Tr, Perch Ln, Mohegan Tr, Hornbeam, Spring Ct, Stillwater Dr., Valley Rd, Ironwood Dr., K Ln, Dogwood Ln, G Place, Foxwood Ln, Navajo Tr, Park Dr., Apache Tr.
• Priority 3–Secondary roads that carry moderate to low traffic volumes. 
  • After the section main roads are open, drivers will move to their secondary roads to finish their section.
• Cul-de-sacs or other dead-end roads.
• Priority 5–Once all the roads are open.
  • The mailbox sites are cleared and shoveled, and the front and rear dumpster areas and school bus stop areas.
  • During a storm, the corners of the intersection are not thoroughly cleaned up to save time, and they are made to be passable by traffic and are thoroughly cleaned after the snow has stopped.

When snow depths seriously impede vehicle mobility and melting is NOT forecasted to occur within 72 hours, Priority 3 roads will be plowed. Please note that we do not remove packed snow and ice from roads passable by passenger cars. If the forecast is for light snow a call for melting within 72 hours, priority 3 roads will not be plowed.

Breakdowns:

• There are 56 miles of roads in PSCA, and the plows take a beating pushing all that snow.
• This year we purchased a spare snowplow. In the past, when a plow broke down, the truck was off the road until repairs could be made. Most of the time, they a minor repair, and the truck is down for an hour or two—a lot of the breakdowns are caused by blown or leaky hydraulic hoses.
• Now the truck will drop its damaged plow and hook right up to the spare and right back out on the road.

Plowed Snow Pile:

The PSCA crews do not plow your driveway in on purpose, and we cannot change the plow angle at each driveway during regular plowing operations due to time constraints. Our priority is keeping the main roads and drives clear for emergency access. We apologize in advance.

You Can Prevent the Second Shovel.

Shovel toward traffic. As you look at your driveway from the road, clear out the right corner as much as possible. Place more snow on the left side of the driveway.

If homeowners do not make a place for the snow to go, the passing plow’s momentum will throw snow right back in the driveway. A little early planning on where to shovel can save residents both time and frustration.”

Important information

• Stuck Vehicles and Dead Batteries.
  • If your vehicle becomes stuck during a storm, call a tow company immediately. Abandoned vehicles quickly become a hazard for other drivers and snowplow operators. If left too long, the county may tow your vehicle to an impound area.
  • If your vehicle is blocking a road or a drive, that area will not get plowed until the vehicle is removed. PATROL VEHICLES AND PSCA TRUCKS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO JUMP START OR TOW VEHICLES, and we are not equipped with the equipment to complete this safely. Join an auto club like AAA now, just in case you need them this winter.
• If you have a medical emergency, you need to call 911 immediately, and they will dispatch help to you. PSCA will dispatch a plow if necessary to clear driveways for emergency vehicle access.
• Please yield to all plow drivers and do not follow closely behind them as they do back up frequently and may not see you.

• We do not have a priority snowplow list and cannot plow certain driveways first because of a resident being employed in the medical profession or having a plane to catch. Now is an excellent time to plan and set up alternate arrangements if you cannot leave the mountain for some time.
• Pay attention to the news–even if you are plowed out during a significant storm, the interstates may still be closed. We will place notices on our website if a considerable snowfall is in the forecast.
• Stock up on food, medicine, and supplies for 72 hours, charge your cell phones, and buy batteries and flashlights.
• Make arrangements with your workplace in advance and stay off the roads as much as possible to allow plowing operations to occur.
• Talk to your neighbors and set up some communication and access plans. Do you have any elderly or physically challenged residents on your road? They may need additional assistance during significant events.
• If you heat your home with oil or propane, try to keep a path shoveled to it if it needs to be turned off or filled. And finally, during situations such as these, cooperate with your neighbors and band together as a neighborhood to help each other.

Your Snow

• Please remember to keep plowed snow on your property. Plowing snow into roadways from private property creates a hazard and slows down the crew’s ability to keep roads open
• From the PSCA Rules and Regulations
  • 17. Snow Removal: For fines for a violation of this section, see attached fine schedule
    • No property owner shall intentionally plow or shovel snow back onto any PSCA road.
• From the Fine Schedule
  • 17 Snow removal Tier 1 Offense—1st Offense—$50.00, 2nd Offense-$75.00, 3rd Offense-$100.00

Below is a diagram of the correct and incorrect ways for individuals to plow their driveways.