NY NJ PORT AUTHORITY READY?

Submitted by ub on

The Port Authority claims to be ready to tackle winter’s latest blast of snow, which is projected to begin tomorrow morning and continue until Wednesday morning.

The agency says it is prepared to deploy extra staff and has assembled snow equipment to handle what forecasters say could be significant snow and bitter cold temperatures at the Port Authority’s airports, tunnels, bridges, PATH system and seaport.

In advance of tomorrow’s snow, the Port Authority announces that it will deploy extra personnel at all of its facilities, which is the normal course of operation during snow events. Port Authority staff will work around-the-clock in 12-hour shifts. The airports, bridges, tunnels and PATH have snow desks where key personnel analyze weather reports and deploy staff and equipment.

The Port Authority urges air and bus travelers to check with their carriers before going to the airports or bus terminals to confirm whether their planes or buses will depart and scheduled departure times. The agency also may impose speed restrictions on its crossings if weather conditions warrant.

For up-to-the-minute updates on Port Authority crossings, airports and the PATH system, travelers are encouraged to sign up for the Port Authority alerts at www.paalerts.com.

The Port Authority has the following snow equipment and supplies ready at its major transportation facilities:

More than 200 pieces of snow equipment at its airports, including a melter that can liquefy up to 500 tons of snow an hour and plows that can clear snow at 40 mph;

Approximately 60 pieces of snow equipment at its bridges and tunnels, including nearly two dozen plows and spreaders at the George Washington Bridge, the world’s busiest vehicle crossing;

Thousands of tons of salt and sand for airport roads and parking lots, and for bridges and tunnels;

Plow-equipped trains, liquid snow-melting agent trains and a "jet engine" plow to remove snow from PATH tracks, and snow blowers, plows and spreaders to clear station entrances, roads that serve PATH’s 13 stations, and various support facilities.

http://www.panynj.gov/