‘Snow jockeys’ anger town highway boss
Robert Gallagher says he’s going after drivers of private plows who dump snow onto local roads.
ROSENDALE, N.Y. >> Town Highway Superintendent Robert Gallagher is going after “snow jockeys” who plow private driveways and leave evidence of their work on roads, creating potential hazards for drivers.
“They leave snow windrows that can be up to 2 feet,” Gallagher said this week. “What happens if you’re traveling at 35 or 40 miles an hour, and all of a sudden you’re hitting 2 feet of snow piled up in the road? You’re going to get hurt.”
The superintendent said town law allows penalties of up to $1,000 per day for each incident of leaving snow in the road.
Gallagher said snow being dumped in roads by private plowers also slows town crews that are clearing roads because they have to cover the same ground twice.
Gallagher said he understands the difficulties of the private snow plowing businesses.
“I use to be a snow jockey back in the day,” he said. “I had 35 accounts. But when I was working around the roads, I cleaned up my mess. These people don’t clean up their mess.”
In a related matter, Gallagher said the town will fix roadside residential mailboxes that are struck by Highway Department trucks but not ones that are damaged by the wake of town plows.
Gallagher said state law identifies rural mailboxes as a potential obstruction for snow plows.
“They are allowed in the right-of-way as a convenience for the owner,” he said. “It is understood that they are required for mail delivery. If damage [to] mailboxes occurs from snow plowing directly or from snow being thrown by plows in keeping the highway open, the [mailbox] must stand aside.”