Scotch Plains-Fanwood Cleans Up After Storm, Kids Enjoy Another Day Off

It's no work and all play for Scotch Plains-Fanwood school children this morning after classes got canceled for a second day in a row.

The SP-F School District, Union Catholic High, Union County Vocational-Technical Schools, St. Bartholomew Academy and Union County College are among those closed.

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood area got blanketed with over 16.5 inches of snow on Wednesday, and local public works crews spent the night clearing it out of the way. As a result, roads are expected to be pretty passable for the morning commute.

"By midday a good portion of the town should see blacktop," Scotch Plains Public Works Director Kevin Ward told Patch Wednesday night. 

Ward said his crew spent the bulk of Wednesday passing over local roads, which eased up their work for the night time. They planned to spend the evening sprucing up primary and secondary roads, getting them ready for drivers in the morning.

"Overall I'm extremely happy with the timing of this event, very happy with the performance of everybody," Ward said. "Police were pitching in everywhere they could, getting out of their cars moving limbs. There were some wire issues, but no power outages as far as I know. We were very lucky. This was a great storm for us to prove how well we deal with this stuff."

Over in Fanwood, public works crews were able to make several passes over primary and secondary roads Wednesday, even making their way into some parking lots.

Director Clint Dicksen said Wednesday night that he and his staffers would be out all night, and hopefully get the job done by 5 a.m.

"The reason it's taking us so long is because there's so much snow, and we've got to go a lot slower because it's a wet, heavy snow," Dicksen said. "People will still have to dig out their driveways in the morning from us plowing them in, but our roads should be clear by morning."

NJTransit plans to get back onto its regular schedule Thurdsay, but not without complications. As of last night, NJTransit warned that Raritan Valley Line trains may be combined Thursday due to weather-related track limitations. Customers are advised to leave approximately 30 minutes of additional travel time and to expect crowding conditions. The warning has since been taken down.

While drivable roads and operable trains will help those trying to get to work, it won't be a concern for local school children, who have a second day off due to snow. The Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District made the announcement around 8 p.m. Wednesday that they'd decided to cancel classes for Thursday. Students also have Friday off for a professional development workday and Monday off for President's Day.

Other local schools made the announcement shortly after 8 p.m.

In the words of one student: "I shall do everything in my power to enjoy these few unexpected days off."

Despite the severity of the storm, police had few incidents to report in Scotch Plains and Fanwood. Downed cable and phone lines were spotted, but the area was spared of power outages. No major weather-related accidents occurred, either.

The blizzard warning for the two towns expired at 6 a.m. this morning. The National Weather Service predicts the weather for Thursday will be partly sunny with above freezing temperatures.

That forecast should be perfect for a second day of playing in the snow. We at Patch would still greatly appreciate your photos of sledding, snowball fights, and more! Either click "add" under the photo gallery on this page, or send them to lindsay@patch.com.

Snow and school closings have moved the Joint Library Initiative, originally scheduled for 7 p.m. at Park Middle School, to 7:15 p.m. at the Scotch Plains Public Library's community room. An additional meeting will also be scheduled soon.

Be sure to stay tuned to Patch for all the latest information. If you know of delays or cancellations, send the info our way via lindsay@patch.com.