Winter came early in the township, as Dec. 9 was the first time crews were called out to battle the snow and ice to keep 133 miles of township roads clear for drivers.

Since then the public works team that handles winter weather has been called out 18 times, driven 14,178 miles and used 3,274 tons of salt and 50,640 gallons of brine, said Jason Dailey, Cranberry Township public works director.

“We manage these events very strategically,” he said. “We talk about it days in advance.”

Cranberry has 20 commercially licensed drivers in the public works department and can pull in CDL drivers from other departments within the township when necessary, Dailey said. There are 23 trucks equipped for winter.

Those drivers and trucks cover 14 snow routes throughout the township. A route takes about two hours to complete if a driver is only putting salt down and three to four hours if plowing snow and putting down salt, Dailey said.

In addition to more than 100 miles of road, the township has more than 300 cul-de-sacs. Those can be the most challenging thing for plow drivers, Dailey said, as the snow has nowhere else to go except into people's yards.