In Cary, plows quick to clear snowbound neighborhoods

John Pinero watched as a contractor for the Town of Cary took about 10 minutes to clear his cul-de-sac.

"This is the fastest I've seen it," he said. "This is fantastic! With all the snow that was on the ground, now with this sun here all afternoon, this whole cul-de-sac is going to be clear."

Cary has a new initiative to clear snow in residential areas, according to Scott Hecht, public works director.

"We never took that approach in the past," Hecht said. "We've always gone in to them, but we waited a day or two. We're taking a different approach to get in to them quick."

The work started as soon as the snow stopped falling, and once the big plows had the main roads open, more smaller plows were sent in to the side streets.

"We've learned over the years that while the mains look good, our citizens struggle to get out of their street," Hecht said. "With 7 inches of snow, we wanted to get it out of there as quickly as possible, so they can get on with their lives."

Snowplow contractor Michael Buchanan grew up in Florida but he was enjoying the role he played in getting Cary moving again. He started work Thursday at 8 a.m. with many hours ahead of him.

"I haven't seen this much snow in a while, but it's fairly easy now that the sun is out," Buchanan said.

Pinero feels lucky to live in the Town of Cary and sees snow plowing as just one more perk in his perfect neighborhood.

"I love Cary," he said. "I think a lot of people are jealous."

The town is using 19 pickup trucks with plows to clear neighborhood streets.