POULTNEY, Vt. (WCAX) – Crews are still working to clear roads in some spots after this week’s snowstorm, which highlighted the clear difference in plowing and salting standards between Vermont and neighboring states.
Nowhere is the difference between Vermont’s safe roads policy and New York’s clear roads policy so easily seen as on Route 4. Driving on the Vermont side of the border on Monday, the highway was snow-covered, but almost immediately after crossing the border into New York, the blacktop was clear and wet.
It’s no surprise to people who live near the border or travel frequently between the states.
“I absolutely see the difference in the roads,” Joel Roberts said.
Roberts knows all about dealing with snowy roads. He’s the road foreman in the border town of Poultney, Vermont, and he drives to work every day from his home in Hampton, New York.
“You can see the drastic difference in what our protocol is versus what New York State’s protocol is,” he said.
While towns are not responsible for plowing and salting state highways, Roberts said he does try to follow Vermont’s safe roads at safe speeds policy on local roads, but it’s hard when drivers see the difference across the border.
“Man, New York is so close and they look so good. Should we be adhering to, should we be trying to do that? Or, you know, it’s a, it’s really, it’s a tough gamble,” Roberts said.
Vermont’s policy on snow removal has been around for decades. Chris Taft is the southwestern region district administrator for VTrans. He said the policy is in place for various reasons, including the goal of limiting the use of road salt.
“For us to be stewards of the land and environment, to make sure that we’re not impacting that. And then also having fiscal constraints and budgetary constraints, and it’s balancing those two things,” Taft said.
VTrans said they’d have to add significant personnel and equipment to maintain a clear roads policy, a cost state leaders maintain Vermonters can’t afford.
The safe roads policy aims to provide travelers with passable highways as much as possible and calls for clear pavement a few hours after a storm.
For travelers coming to Vermont, VTrans said they should be cautious in winter conditions.
“They should understand that there’s going to be a difference when you cross state lines, whether that’s from New York to Vermont or from Colorado to Wyoming,” Taft said.
At the end of the day, state agencies and local towns are trying to make their roadways safe, even if methods differ.
“I know that people feel safer once they cross into New York, sometimes, on the highways or the, the higher-speed areas. But what we do seems to be rather safe,” Roberts said.
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