Nearly four weeks after the snowstorm dubbed Fern dropped 8 to 9 inches of snow across New Jersey, crews are still removing stubborn snow and ice from roads and sidewalks around the borough.
Leading up to the storm, the Department of Public Works pre-treated streets, and when the snow hit on Jan. 25, all 16 of its employees worked to keep streets clear into the following evening. Since the deluge, crews have been trying to clear mounds of snow and ice from streets downtown to restore parking and improve driving conditions.
After clearing main arteries – including Kings Highway, Haddon Avenue, Grove Street, Chews Landing, Avondale, West End and Warwick Road – the department went to work removing mounds of snow from borough parking lots. Those areas were closed beginning at 6:30 a.m. during snow removal, including the North Haddon Avenue borough parking lot on Feb. 6, the Mechanic Street borough lot on Feb. 9 and the Clement Street lot on Feb. 10.
As of deadline, the North Haddon Avenue lot was open. But the others will be closed until the work is complete, though the borough doesn’t anticipate they will have to be closed for a full day.
The borough will tell residents on specific streets when to move their cars so crews can clear the streets. Parking downtown was difficult due to snow piles and Joana McDonnell, a borough communications officer, said that parked cars had “encroached on the roadway, creating hazardous conditions.”
After clearing the business district, removal crews shifted to streets with no driveways and or limited parking.
Temperatures were expected to remain low for a few weeks, with possible flurries and some accumulation expected. Bill Ober, Haddonfield’s public works’ superintendent, said clearing sidewalks took longer due to ice.
“Of the borough-maintained streets and sidewalks, the part that took a long time was clearing the sidewalks and the crosswalks on the Safe Routes to School list,” he explained. “The sidewalks had iced over, making it difficult to remove.”
Ober said not only was the storm bad, the continued cold made things even worse.
“On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the worst, it was an 8 or 9,” he noted. “The way the snow fell, then the ice on top, it was tough. And I can’t remember it being this cold for this long.”
