An official with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation says the pandemic could make it harder to keep roads plowed.
It’s possible an outbreak in some of the state's maintenance sheds timed with a nor’easter could leave some roads unplowed, said David Gray, the department's winter maintenance program specialist.
Gray tells The Concord Monitor there are 93 sheds around the state where trucks, equipment and salt or sand supplies are kept. There are between three and 15 state workers in each shed. And the number can double with contractors.
If a case of COVID-19 is reported among those employees, it’s possible that everybody will have to quarantine.
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“If COVID goes into a shed and wipes out a shed, then we’ve got to figure out some way of getting that road taken care of. If you’ve got 10 operators, you’ve lost 10 trucks,” he said. “You have to sanitize the shed, find new operators to go into these seats.”
Nevertheless, Department of Transportation vehicles were out plowing the roads Saturday. The agency also reduced speed limits on some highways.
