Due to the severe regional shortage of salt to treat roads, we have been forced to use a sand/salt mix, and in some cases sand alone, on slippery and icy roads. The result is that the condition of the roads may not be what drivers have come to expect in the Town, and may include hard pack snow and ice. This condition may become worse BOTH during and in the aftermath of the blizzard, which is forecast to affect our area Saturday and Sunday, February 14 and 15. Drivers are urged to use extreme caution when traveling roads during these conditions as roads that may appear to be pavement may have a dangerous coating of ice.
SAFETY INFO
DPW UPDATE on CLEANUP
2/10/15 2:00 p.m. Yesterday DPW plowed main roads, secondary roads and parking lots throughout the day. We treated main roads and collector roads last night, finishing up around midnight. Crews were called in to treat the mains with a salt/sand mixture this morning at 5:00 AM this morning. Last night/early this morning intersections on Rt. 28 at Bearses Way, Strawberry Hill Road and Putnam Ave were widened. Today we are again plowing all of the secondary roads. Salt supplies are getting low. We have 6,000 tons on order. We will mix the remaining salt with sand until its gone, then go with straight sand. Our salt supplier is unable to estimate date or time of delivery. If the salt vendor allows, we are intending to contract two tractor trailers today to travel to Chelsea and pick up approximately 70 tons of salt, which is the maximum they will let us pick up.
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS SNOW REMOVAL NOTICE
February 5, 2015 Effective today at 12:00 PM, the DPW has placed heavy equipment teams in each of the Town’s seven villages. There are two teams in each village consisting of two front-end loaders, a backhoe and two Town trucks with plows and sand. These teams will visit each secondary road and open those roads back up to their normal lane widths. In other words, if a road is two lanes wide, the teams will open the road to two lanes wide. We have found that only this type of heavy equipment is effective at removing the quantities of frozen snow that is present on our secondary roads. The teams will continue work on the secondary roads on a 12 hours on and 12 hours off rotation until this task is complete. In the meantime we will continue work to clear Town sidewalks and treat the main roads with salt as it becomes necessary.
Groundhog Day Storm Update
Feb 2, 2015 3:00 PM – The DPW plowed and treated the main roads this morning. This afternoon we are having the secondary contractor’s plow, now that the rain has softened up what’s on the roads. That effort will be followed with a sanding/salting of both main and secondary roads tonight to address expected icing due to falling temperatures.
Stay safe!
Storm Clean-Up Underway
Cotuit Town Dock Parking Lot
Cotuit Town Dock
Jan 28, 2015 12:30 PM – DPW continues to work on clearing the main roads. This afternoon we will also be opening them wider and treating the mains with salt mixture. Beginning this evening, we plan to undertake snow removal on secondary roads. Our normal contractors will not be able to tackle this job as much of their equipment is just too small for the task. This work will be undertaken by DPW crews and involve a front end loader and plow combination. We have numerous teams and dozens of pieces of equipment that will fan out across all the Town’s villages. We appreciate your patience in not calling to ask about a specific road. If you have an emergency, call 911 and public safety officials will coordinate any necessary access.
Jan 28, 2015 7:20 AM – DPW crews continue to work on the main roads. Using front end loaders through the night, we were able to clear enough to get our plows back on the mains. We will continue work on the mains throughout the day with DPW crews and contractors. We will begin addressing secondary roads once the mains have been addressed. At best, this will not occur until this evening. THE TOWN MANAGER HAS CLOSED ALL TOWN OFFICES, INCLUDING THE TRANSFER STATION TODAY. We are doing the best we can and will address all roads. Please try not to call the DPW to ask when a particular road will be plowed, as right now we will not be able to provide that information. If you have an emergency call 911.
EMERGENCY SHELTER OPEN
EMERGENCY SHELTERS OPEN TONIGHT!
All 6 regional shelters will open at 6:30pm this evening. Locations are:
* Barnstable Intermediate School, 895 Falmouth Road, Barnstable
* Dennis-Yarmouth High School, 210 Station Avenue, South Yarmouth
* Sandwich High School, 365 Quaker Meetinghouse Road, Sandwich
* Falmouth High School, 874 Gifford Street, Falmouth
* Cape Cod Regional Technical School, 351 Pleasant Lake Avenue, Harwich
* Nauset Regional High School, 100 Cable Road, Eastham
A reminder that if using a shelter, please bring medication for at least 3 days with you. Pets are welcome. Transportation to the shelter by the Barnstable Police Department will be available by calling 508-775-0837, ext. 8. However, transportation MAY NOT be available during the height of the storm.
ALERT!
Travel Ban
Last updated at January 26, 2015 01:27 PM
Governor Baker has signed an Executive Order allowing for the enforcement of a statewide travel ban effective at midnight. The following exceptions shall exist for the ban and all drivers are encouraged to remain safe and use their best judgment:
- Essential emergency response professionals
- Medical, healthcare and human service workers, including shelter personnel
- Essential public transit and support workers
- Public and private personnel supporting public works and utility operations
- Essential state employees
- Those traveling for essential medical procedures
- Vehicles and personnel delivering essential supplies to healthcare facilities.
The travel ban will be lifted on a county by county basis as conditions allow, and exemptions to the travel ban are as follows:
- Public safety vehicles, sworn and civilian public safety personnel, including those providing services at correctional facilities, and private sector security personnel
- Public works vehicles and public works personnel, including contract personnel supporting public works operations
- Public transportation vehicles and public transportation personnel, including contract personnel supporting public transportation operations
- Government personnel conducting official business
- Utility company vehicles and personnel, including contract personnel supporting utility response and restoration efforts
- Personnel directly supporting storm response operations, including but not limited to emergency shelter personnel
- Personnel supporting human services facilities, including but not limited to residential housing programs and human services shelter operations
- Healthcare personnel, including home healthcare personnel and personal care assistants
- Personnel delivering or supporting services at healthcare facilities, including those that provide long term care and mental health care, as well as hospitals and other healthcare facilities
- Vehicles and personnel providing critical supplies to healthcare facilities, including those that provide long term care and mental health care, as well as hospitals and other healthcare facilities
- News media
- Private sector snow removal equipment engaged in, or traveling in connection with the removal or clearance of snow and ice from public or private sector facilities
- Patients traveling for the purpose of receiving urgent critical care, and persons traveling with those patients who are necessary to facilitate that urgent critical care
- Travel necessary to maintain critical private sector facilities, services and operations, and to deliver or support critical private sector services and supplies in critical infrastructure sectors such as energy, fuel, financial systems, and the provision of critical commodities
- Travel to support business operations that provide critical services to the public, including gasoline stations, pharmacies, food stores and hardware stores
WINTER STORM JUNO ALERT
Blizzard Warning for Barnstable and Dukes Counties, MA
A crippling and potentially historic Blizzard will impact the area mainly from late today into Tuesday, lingering into early Wednesday.
Blizzard Warning remains in effect from 7 pm this evening to noon EST Tuesday.
- Locations: Cape Cod and the Islands.
- Hazard types: Heavy snow, strong winds and blizzard conditions. Considerable blowing and drifting snow. Strong to damaging winds.
- Accumulations: snow accumulations of around 10 to 18 inches. With higher amounts towards the Cape Cod Canal. Snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches will be possible at times.
- Timing: while the storm is expected late today lingering into early Wednesday, the worst of the storm will be tonight through Tuesday afternoon. There will be a period where heavy snow will change over to rain, mainly during the day Tuesday. Before changing back over to snow. Especially on the outer arm of Cape Cod.
- Impacts: Heavy snow and strong winds will result in White-out / blizzard conditions with near zero visibility at times. Travel will be impossible and life threatening across the entire region. Also snow will be wet enough to result in downed trees and power outages in addition to the hurricane force winds.
- Winds: North-northeast 35 to 45 mph with gusts around 70 to 80 mph. The height of the winds will be late tonight into Tuesday.
- Visibilities: one quarter mile or less at times.
Recommended actions
A Blizzard Warning is issued when sustained winds or frequent gusts over 35 mph are expected with considerable falling and/or blowing and drifting snow. Visibilities will become poor with Whiteout conditions at times. Those venturing outdoors may become lost or disoriented, so persons in the warning area are advised to stay indoors.
All unnecessary travel is discouraged beginning Monday afternoon. To allow people already on the road to safely reach their destination before the heavy snow begins, and to allow snow removal equipment to begin to clear roads.
Alarm Registration Renewal
Barnstable Precinct 7 
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