Framingham DPW Prepared For Saturday’s Storm

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FRAMINGHAM _ Saturday’s storm could bring the most plowable snow for the City of Framingham in 2023.

The City put an emergency parking ban in place starting at midnight on March 4 and extending until 3 p.m.

“We are enforcing the parking ban from midnight tonight till three o’clock tomorrow afternoon, and that’s throughout the entire city,” said Framingham Derpartment of Public Works Director Bob Lewis.

“We have our salting units are going out tonight,” said DPW Director Lewis. “Twenty units will be going out pre-treating beginning at 10 p.m. tonight, and we’re still watching the timing of the snow. We haven’t made a determination yet when we’ll call the plows in, but we will likely move into a full plow with contractors I’m guessing between 2 and 4 a.m.”

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The National Weather Service in Boston has a wide range of snow forecasted for MetroWest anywhere from 4 inches to a foot of snow, with heavy wind gusts.

Framingham DPW uses its own meteorologist and that forecast is calling for 4 to 6 inches and possibly 8 inches.

“So we’re thinking it’s going to be in the 5- to 6-inch range,” said Lewis just before 5 p.m. today, March 3.

The Framingham DPW Director said this storm is “going to be wet, heavy snow. The temperatures are hovering just below 32, so that gives you a lot of wet heavy snow with this isn’t going to be light and fluffy. This is going to be wet and heavy and it’s going to be tough to shovel. I think we’re going to end up with very slushy conditions tomorrow morning.”

Framingham does not use sand to treat snow, the City uses salt.

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“We do a pre-treat before the storm starts and they only pre-treat the mains and the secondary roads. And then once we’ll let the snow fall and traffic starts to chew up that salt that’s been know the pretreated salt, it kind of turns the snow into a slushy brine and it, it’ll help it from freezing to the road and it makes it easier to plow off,” explained DPW Director Lewis.

Primary roads for DPW will be road theat impact emergency vehicles and the critical facilities, like Framingham Union Hospital.

Even though it is a Saturday storm, with schools closed, next will be the schools to make sure they are ready for Monday.

There is activity at Framingham High on Saturday.

• The Framingham High School Drama Company will need to travel to Sharon to compete at 9 a.m. in the preliminary round of the Massachusetts Education Theatre Guild’s state drama festival.

• Framingham High is scheduled to host the state dance championships on Saturday.

• And the Flyers girls basketball team – seeded #6 in the MIAA Division 1 tournament – will host Quincy at 7 p.m.

“The bulk of the plowing should be done by mid-afternoon,” said DPW Lewis about his team.

SOURCE has a Storm central post with important information, along with postponements and cancellations.

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