BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - The New York State Department of Transportation will expand their use of tow plows to clean snow off the roads this winter.
You may be used to seeing multiple plows staggered to push snow off. These tow plows are attached to the plow trucks and allow two travel lanes to be cleared at once.
NYSDOT said this is a more efficient way of cleaning roads. The tow plows are used in combination with a 12-foot front-mounted plow and can clear 24 feet of road at once.
"We have 52 of these around the state that are in continuous operation during any major snowstorm," Todd Westhuis, NYSDOT Chief of Staff, said. "This year in Western New York, where we already have five of these units, we're going to be expanding the use of these units to Interstate 290 and Interstate 990 in Northern Erie County."
The plows were previously deployed along I-86 in Chautauqua County, Route 400, and I-190 in Niagara County. The tow plows are controlled by a single driver, who pulls a lever inside which then moves the plow in the back to the next lane over. If you have never seen it before, you may think the plow has jack-knifed in the weather, but officials say the drivers are in full control of the plow.
"That unit contains a separate light kit that mimics the back of one of our plows," Westhuis said. "When you see it out there, it looks like two plows working in tandem. It also has cameras on the unit so that operator can then control that unit efficiently and safely in a way that doesn't disrupt traffic."
Westhuis is urging drivers to give the plow drivers space to do their work.
