Long Island roads mostly cleared but snow mountains, black ice remain problems

Most of Long Island’s major roads were cleared by late Tuesday morning following the historic nor’easter that dumped up to 30 inches of snow on parts of the region, but the black ice created by the melt and freeze cycle will present new problems for motorists and pedestrians.

The brilliant sunshine that followed the storm melted some of the snow but created sometimes blinding glare on roads and, as temperatures fall, slick conditions. 

"The moisture goes out onto the pavement," said AAA Northeast spokesman Robert Sinclair. "The pavement is below freezing, so that’s the formula for black ice. ... Those patches of moisture that you see on the roadways could wind up being very, very slippery."

About a half inch of snow mixed with rain is expected to fall Wednesday morning, adding to the road mess, and high temperatures this week will stay above freezing, contributing to the snow melt and freeze cycle. 

Police in Nassau and Suffolk said there were no major storm-related incidents reported on Tuesday. Traffic was light on major thoroughfares during the morning rush hour, in part because of school closures, officials said.

Crews throughout Long Island were finishing long shifts Tuesday as they cleared roads for drivers, battling enormous drifts and piles of snow that had to find homes in parking lots and other places.

In Riverhead, officials were reapplying salt and sand to roads at the end of Tuesday to prepare for Wednesday's light snow. "We’re just tightening everything up so I can get my men home at the end of the day for well-deserved rest," Riverhead Highway Superintendent Mike Zaleski said. 

In Patchogue, roads and parking lots retained a thin layer of snow on Tuesday as crews struggled with the sheer volume dumped in the community, Mayor Paul Pontieri said. He said village streets were "passable," but added, "parking lots are another story."

"The speed and the volume of this storm, it made it almost impossible," he said, noting a 5-foot-high mound of snow was piled in front of Village Hall on Terry Street. "These guys are now putting in 20-hour days, 18-hour days. It’s really tough."

Drivers could not see over several mounds of snow piled in intersections Tuesday. One pile prevented drivers exiting a Patchogue Village parking lot from seeing potential cars heading their way down Railroad Avenue.

Babylon Department of Public Works Commissioner Vincent Piccoli said about 95% of the town's roads were passable by Tuesday afternoon. He  said crews have been working since 4 p.m. Sunday and have gotten just eight hours of sleep — in two four-hour shifts — since then. 

"They have been challenged with a historic storm which resulted in 30 inches of snow, whiteout conditions, equipment issues, gale force winds, snowdrifts and fatigue," Piccoli said. 

Farmingdale Mayor Ralph Ekstrand said a crew of 10 plow drivers worked throughout the storm to clear the village's 23 miles of roads and nine parking lots. The village, however, received complaints about high piles of snow throughout the village.

"The biggest problem is: Where do you put 21 inches of snow?" Ekstrand said.

Oyster Bay's John Tassone, chief deputy commissioner of the Department of Public Works, said the town's 275 plow drivers first focused on making its 700 miles of residential roads passable for emergency vehicles and are now working on clearing roads curb to curb. 

"Before the end of the week, hopefully we're fully clear," Tassone said.

In Southold, Highway Superintendent Dan Goodwin sent crews home late Monday night after they battled whiteout conditions, stuck equipment and 10-foot snowdrifts for 30 hours.

Goodwin said it could take days to fully recover. Later in the week, the department may bring in dump trucks to remove large piles of snow from downtown areas, including Love Lane in Mattituck.

Southampton Village’s Highway Department is applying salt on roads "sparingly" due to a shortage, public works Superintendent Stephen Phillips said in a message on social media.

Phillips said the highway department was expecting a salt delivery later Tuesday, but less than he ordered. A state of emergency in the village is in effect through Wednesday at 7 a.m.

"Every street in the village is passable," he said. "The little bit of salt that I did put down on the main drags is starting to work, and [the ice] is all finally starting to melt."

AAA Northeast's Sinclair urged motorists to be vigilant when they hit the road Wednesday.

"Give yourself lots of extra time," he said. "Go to bed early. Wake up early, and take it easy on the roads, because you have got a combination of factors that will make it dangerous — the melting snow and ice, the refreezing of the melting snow and ice."