UPDATE: The Bills announced on their team website shovelers should start arriving at midnight and there is a limit to the first 200 people who show up and registered
Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz announced tonight that the travel ban for Erie County in New York will be lifted immediately for those who are helping shovel snow at Highmark Stadium. The Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers play tomorrow at 4:30., and despite the travel ban not being lifted until 6:00 a.m Monday morning for most of the county, there is an immediate need for shovelers to clear the “multiple feet of snow” that fell this afternoon at the stadium.
The travel ban still will not be lifted for all communities in Erie County, as the municipality of Lackawanna and the towns of Cheektowaga and Lancaster will still have the travel ban in effect. However, for every other town or municipality throughout the county, they will be able to leave their homes at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow.
With the large amount of snow in the area and the size of Highmark Stadium and the expected crowds for the playoff game tomorrow, it will take a major effort to clear the snow. Hence, shovelers are allowed to head to the stadium tonight, although the New York Thruway remains closed to all traffic, so there are only certain routes that they can take to get there.
The travel ban being lifted also means that fans will be able to travel to the game legally and it means that the roads are safe for travel. The Bills have been unable to meet as a team at their facility due to the travel ban over the past few days, so tomorrow will be the first time the team has congregated since Friday.
The Steelers were able to fly into Buffalo today amid the snowstorm and were able to hold team meetings yesterday as well. With the game being delayed, the weather should be better, which might help the Bills out with their passing attack led by Josh Allen. Still, it’s going to be cold and windy and it still won’t be fun weather to play in. Still, Bills Mafia will show up in droves, especially now with the travel ban mostly lifted in Erie County.
It’s going to be a battle for the Steelers, but they’re hungry to win their first playoff game since 2016. We’ll see if they’ll be able to get it done.
