There has been a significant lack of snow this season in New York — until this past weekend that is. So what does that mean for the men and women who keep the roads clear?

“It's been a 10. It's always busy season for the Erie County Highway Department,” said Karen Hoak, deputy commissioner of highways for the Erie County Department of Public Works.

We asked her, on a scale of 1 to 10, how busy their five maintenance districts have been this winter.

“There's always work to be done during the winter months,” Hoak said.

There's more to it than just clearing snow, she said.

“Ditching drainage repairs, tree trimming, patching potholes,” Hoak listed.

And those are just a few of the jobs they handle. Initially, Spectrum News 1 had planned to be out with crews as they did those jobs that come with the warmer weather, however, Mother Nature had other plans.

“Our Department of Public Works social media will give you an idea of what our crews are up to every day,” Hoak said.

The number-one project on a warm, sunny, winter day ...

“Oh, that’s a good question,” Hoak said. “That’s a Tony question.”

“Either ditching or trees,” said Tony Scolese, Hamburg district engineer for the Erie County Department of Public Works.

The motor grader he’s in is just one example of the versatile equipment on hand.

“We have trucks ready to ditch and haul any material, whether it's road sand or it's our ditching material,” Scolese said.

Ditching is a big task. Getting that done early gives crews a leg up on upcoming road projects. They’re also able to fill potholes. They keep 10 tons of cold patch asphalt ready to go.

“[It] could last a day, or it could last a month,” Scolese said. “You don't know.”

Fixing mailboxes and repairing and replacing signs are also on their to-do list.

“We do that whenever. If a stop sign goes down, that's the 24 hours. Somebody gets called in," said Scolese.

Their hours flex as well. And they’re keeping their fingers crossed.

“We don’t need snow for the next four Sundays,” Scolese laughed, referencing upcoming football games.

DPW crews help with traffic on game day and some stadium maintenance. So they keep busy, even when there’s no snow.

Other items on the agenda for DPW crews include picking up trash and repairing drainage systems.

A friendly reminder: Move over when you see crews working along the road and don't crowd the plow.