Vent - does this city not have snow plows?

[FlightlessDuck]

At 10AM the snow stopped somewhere between 4 and 6 hours ago. I have to drive to work. The township I live in had brought plows around. My development isn't immaculate, but I can see wet blacktop.

I leave my development to a road that's not really a main thoroughfair but pretty busy. A little mushy but not bad. Turn onto another road that labeled with a state highway. Again, not bad.

But just about every other major road once I get "in town" has packed down snow. it's like a plow came by and left a 1/2 inch, just cause. The road that leads to a parking garage in the downtown was a mess this morning. Inches of snow on the ground. Basically once I got "in town" I drove the car in low gear until I got into the parking garage.

I shouldn't be shocked. This isn't new. But this is central PA. We get snow. it's not like this isn't a common occurrence in the winter. But I've been in upstate New York. The roads are immaculate after a storm.

Maybe this town assumes everyone has SUVs?

GRRRRRR. Sometimes I hate this city. I think I am going to send a letter to the paper, and maybe even call the city and complain.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Oh, and it's not like it's a problem just because we got 10 inches of snow last night. This happens when we got 3, as well.

 

[Ilivetogo]

I'm hearin' ya on this one ... we don't seem to have any over here in Horsham either! And a guy who delivered stuff to my office a while ago said it's the same in Ft. Washington, too!!

.

 

[eliza61]

I know you are frustrated FD, this has been one heck of a winter and it's only January. If that dang groundhog doesn't predict an early spring I'm gonna scream but I'm going to speak up for the guys/gals who have to plow those streets. I use to do it during college in Pittsburgh of all places.

1) Plowing snow is pretty much slow, hard work. Depending on the kind of equipment your township has and how new it is. Just getting the major highways and byways done during a snow storm can be daunting (sp).

2) Snow budgets. Most townships and municipalities have X amount of dollars to spend on snow removal and that includes paying more manpower. Most township, cities, boroughs on the east coast have either blown their budget and or are dangerously close to it. That means maybe we can't pay to have the entire force out clearing the roads. Now couple that with a lot of smaller areas, the road crew is also the sanitation crew or maintence crew. You can't simply hitch up every truck in town with a plow.

3) required routes. Some areas have "required" routes that must be clean first. Even if the snow cleared 4 hours ago the pa turnpike or I-95 have to be kept clear, which may mean going over and over them. Once again depending on the equipment and manpower, what you think may take only 30 mins in actuality can take 3X's as long.

4) Even smaller townships have "priority" routes. Hospitals, major arteries, school routes all take preference.

hang in there girlfriend. Only 90 more days until spring....

 

[jen0610]

One of the girls I work with DH works for the city street department here. According to the orders they got, they are not to plow down to the asphalt, due to the damage that can be caused by the plow.

The budget for pot hole and road repairs does not have the funds it use to have, so in order to make what is in there last, they aren't plowing the roads like they use to.

I feel his fustration. They can't win either way. Plow to the asphalt, the roads get torn up and they get complaints about how torn up the roads are or don't plow away every last inch of snow and get complaints about what a poor job they are doing of that.

I would prefer the roads to be CAREFULLY plowed - I have seen some of those plows flying up the roads - cleaning down to the asphalt. There wouldn't be as much damage to the roads, if they actually slowed down a bit and took a tad bit more care in how they are plowing, instead of hurry up and get it cleared an hour ago.

 

[FireDancer]

After the last two winters and seeing how bad other cities are with dealing with winter I have to give credit to the cities around me. Between Cleveland and the suburbs I go through the roads are cleaned up much better than a lot of the places I see on the news.

I feel his fustration. They can't win either way. Plow to the asphalt, the roads get torn up and they get complaints about how torn up the roads are or don't plow away every last inch of snow and get complaints about what a poor job they are doing of that.

Around here every spring the roads are a little torn up but they get patched pretty quickly. It is a yearly cycle of plowing and patching. The only real problem is when I go biking in the spring. Some roads are too torn up for a 23mm or 25mm tire.

 

[Dee77]

local roads, county roads and state roads should all be managed by local, county and state DOT's. Since the snow took place over the course of many hours, it is possible that they broke up the departments to work in shifts which may be the reason why some roads are better than others.

 

[manning]

Maybe it should be left to private firms.

 

[kimmar067]

...my friend, you need to post HERE:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2644081

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I know you are frustrated FD, this has been one heck of a winter and it's only January. If that dang groundhog doesn't predict an early spring I'm gonna scream but I'm going to speak up for the guys/gals who have to plow those streets. I use to do it during college in Pittsburgh of all places.

Oh, I'm not annoyed with the actual workers themselves. This is more of a "annoyed at the city in general" type thing. I would happily pay higher taxes so the snow budget is high enough to be able to get the job done.

Thanks for the hard work

And as another poster said, I think there might be a "don't plow all the way down to the asphalt" policy around here. It wouldn't surprise me.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

...my friend, you need to post HERE:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2644081

If I had a camera I would have taken pictures this morning of the road leading to the parking garage.

 

[DrCavin]

Around here every spring the roads are a little torn up but they get patched pretty quickly.

little is an understatement - Usually I see 3-4 pot holes that claim a few rims each year, thankfully I haven't been a victim....

 

[mamacatnv]

Here the city has a priority list - never in the 17 years I have lived here have I seen anything not on the list plowed. City streets, the neighborhood streets etc. that are not on the list are all on their own.
I don't have 4wd but I do have front wheel drive and unless the snow is so high I can't clear it, I never have issues. I saw a bunch of footage on the news this morning from somewhere back east and I was surprised how many vehicles had rear wheel drive. That is almost unheard of here unless its the "summer" car.

The list goes something like this:
Highways - of which there are 2
Major thoroughfares and they are spelled out
Roads leading to the hospitals/fire stations etc.
bus routes - city, then school

If it snows, the policy is even if they are only half way thru the list they must restart at the top with the highways and the major roads. Getting out of my subdivision can be a challenge but honestly even when we have had feet of snow, we have never really been stranded all that long. Lots of snowblowers and trucks with plows that live in the neighborhoods.

The City like most, does not have the funds to plow every single street every time it snows.