First Selectman Says Main Town Roads PASSABLE; 6 PM Saturday Night

Guilford Patch spoke to First Selectman Joe Mazza Saturday night about road conditions, power outages, and safety issues for residents. Mazza emphasized that though the travel ban for state roads have been lifted, the town is still encouraging residents to stay home as plows continue to work.

"The major town roads are PASSABLE, like Long Hill and West Lake," Mazza told Guilford Patch. "Passable means that there is a lane, maybe a lane and a half that is drivable, but the roads should not be considered cleared. So, even though the state travel ban is lifted, we urge people to stay home and be safe."

Mazza also stated that after the main roads, the town will move on to the secondary roads, which is what they are starting to work on Saturday night, and then will lastly address the side roads and subdivisions.

"Do not worry if you have an emergency though, even if your street is not plowed," said Mazza. "Our Fire trucks are equipped with plows so if you have an emergency we will get to you. We understand that the situation is frustrating, and appreciate your patience."

The town has also elected to continue to run limited crews through the night. "We're going to send some of our guys home that have been working 30 plus hours to get some rest," Mazza said. "But we will continue to run limited crews at night."

"Because of the amount of snow, and the weight of it, the normal plows are not enough," Mazza continued. "And then of course, there's the issue of where to put it. The payloaders have been a huge help. Residents may see that on their street as opposed to a plow at first."

"We are also asking residents to please be cognizant of the weight of the snow on structures and houses," he added. "If we get rainstorms,  it will be important to keep an eye on that."

According to the CL&P Outage Map, .5% of Guilford residents are out of power. "We are aware of the outages and are working with CL&P to get power up and running as soon as possible," Mazza said. "We have not had any reports of downed wires."

The town is also coordinating with Guilford School Superintendent Paul Freeman as to the status of school on Monday, but no decisions have been made yet. 

Keep up to date with the storm by checking out Guilford Patch's Storm Center.