Community Corner

Storm Update: All Roads 'Passable,' Town Turns to Widening Efforts

Southington Town Manager Garry Brumback said all roads should now have a passable lane and the focus will turn to widening the roads, although the process will likely take days to complete.

The town's roads are now all passable, according to officials, but it will still be some time before they are extended to normal length and things return to normal.

Widening operations began Monday morning, Southington Town Manager Garry Brumback said, but were quickly delayed after freezing rains forced the town to divert workers in order to salt the roads and keep what is clear at this point safe to travel on.

Brumback released the following on Monday:

I wanted to give everybody an update as to our current status and our plans for going forward. First, all roads in Southington had at least one passable lane as of 10 p.m. last night. This morning we began widening main roads. However, at just before 9 a.m. we diverted plowing to salting and sanding due to the freezing rain. As soon as our streets have been sanded and salted we will resume plowing operations this will be at 11:30 a.m. this morning.

Our priorities at this point are:

(1)     Widening main roads;

Find out what's happening in Southingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

(2)     Widening secondary roads;

(3)     Widening subdivision roads.

Find out what's happening in Southingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This will not be done in sequence and oftentimes we will be working on all three at the same time. However, people can expect their roads in the subdivisions to not be completed until Friday.

We are also evaluating our roofs and facilities to ensure that all are safe.

We will be asking for State assistance on vehicles and equipment to remove snow and will keep people apprised of the State’s response.  The Governor has declared a State of Emergency, and 48 hours of our efforts are 75% reimbursable by FEMA. These 48 hours are of our choosing.

The State is continuing to widen the Interstate and once they complete that, they will pass on some equipment to municipalities. Next they are focusing on secondary roads but have not begun as of 10 a.m. this morning.

Bus and rail are operating. CL&P has restored all of their power. The best news is that Southington customers never lost their power.

The next update I hope to provide around 2:30 p.m. this afternoon and will include an update on the status of our schools.

Make sure to like Southington Patch on Facebook and follow on Twitter for breaking news, daily updates and more!


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here