Civics 101

(Sunday) February 7, 2010

It’s Snow Fun

Rodger Digilio
alexadnrianews.org

We had another huge snowfall yesterday. Snow totals are always imprecise but it is clear that we were near or just above 20 inches. This is our second monster storm of a winter that has also seen 3 other smaller storms and that brings some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that all the snow should have gotten us in good shape. After shoveling out from 4 storms a 5th seems like no big deal. The problem, however, is that this storm is different. It began as wetter and much heavier snow which will present more difficulties for those trying to clear sidewalks and driveways.

The temperature dropped yesterday and the snow became much fluffier and drier and people were out enjoying the scene. As they walked they compressed the snow underfoot and that wet layer turned to ice.  When shovel your walk you will find a thick layer of ice or near ice at the bottom. Please take it easy with lots of rest times. Moving heavy shovels of snow and cutting out the compacted snow/ice on the bottom is hard work.

The road crews suffered from this storm in a way that they did not from the big one in December. The previous storm was full of light snow and it came during the daylight hours. The trucks did not plow during the height of the storm but resumed as soon as it abated and by evening had main streets down to bare pavement. Not so this time. The storm came overnight and by morning there was a fairly thick coating of that wet snow on the streets that had not been melted or removed. That layer was then quickly covered with a thick blanket of lighter snow as the temperature fell steeply. There was activity on the main streets and the people walking and vehicles driving packed the snow down hard. This morning King Street has a layer of ice or slippery compacted snow that is 3 inches thick in many places.  Plows cannot deal with it.

Motorists, however, have become complacent about driving on snow. I watched the traffic on King Street for 5 minutes at 8am and observed near miss after near miss. A jeep was going too fast and could not stop and simply went through the red light at Henry. A van followed a scant 5 feet behind a pickup truck–not enough time to brake on clear, dry pavement let alone packed snow and ice. Car after car went through red lights since drivers saw no traffic coming on the cross street. Drivers made right on red turns at intersections where they were not allowed. It is not smart to take these chances.

Alexandrians have also become accustomed to walking in the streets. The mix of people and vehicles on compacted snow and ice is terrifying. It is more so since we have seem to forgotten the lessons of our youth. I was taught in Pennsylvania to walk facing oncoming traffic if I was on a road without a sidewalk. That way you can see what is approaching you on your side of the street. Here people walk on the side of the street on which they normally would drive. They cannot see the cars on their side of the street approaching them from behind. The snow and ice muffles the sound of approaching vehicles creating one hazardous situation after another.

People are enjoying the sights and stop and move in the street in ways they would never consider if there was no snow. Yesterday I watched one guy who wanted to get the perfect picture of his girlfriend. He stepped right into the path of an SUV that he never saw or heard since it came up behind him. He was lucky but others will not be.

Clearing the streets is going to be a great challenge but providing safe pedestrian mobility is another. Snows on weekends make it easier for residents since they are home to clear their walks. Business owners are not present, however, and cannot get to their properties since they are not supposed to be on the roads. When they do arrive a day or two later they must deal with severely compacted snow on their sidewalks which is very hard to remove.

Plowing creates barriers for pedestrians. When the intersections are plowed from a heavy storm, walls of snow up to three feet high are created at the ends of blocks. Even if the sidewalks are cleared you have to climb over this obstacle to cross the street and then climb over the one on the other side of the street to get to the next block. Some of this is comical. The City sends out a crew to shovel the handicapped ramp ends of sidewalks on King Street. Last December on Monday after the storm I walked dry shod down the sidewalk on my block and down a perfectly cleared handicap ramp to encounter the 3 foot high wall of snow where Fayette and King Streets had been plowed.  The same was true on Mt. Vernon Avenue except the handicapped ramps had not been cleared.

I also wondered about clearing the handicapped ramps when the City does not clear its own property. There is a small triangular piece of land that is located where King, Commerce and Fayette come together. During the December storm the last piece of King Street sidewalk to be cleared bordered that park which is owned by the city. Even the trustee of the bankrupt Le Gaulois Restaurant cleared its sidewalk days before the city got around to theirs.

Mass transit does not fare much better. Metro says that local jurisdictions are responsible for clearing bus stops but we do not do it here and bus riders have to climb over the 3 foot high wall of snow that has been plowed to the curb to get to the bus in the street unless the neighboring property owner clears it out of the goodness of his or her heart.

We call ourselves an “EcoCity” but it is clear that in snow storms the car is still king and our citizens get seriously impatient if their streets are not cleared with dispatch even if the pedestrian and rider of mass transit is disadvantaged.

All this being said, the city has done a very good job with the earlier storms. Hopefully this one will be dealt with in the same professional manner. Unfortunately snow removal is like politics. Politicians are always asked: “What have you done for me lately?” The snow crews are only as good as their efforts in the latest storm. Let us help them by doing our part. Let us stay off the roads so they can clear them. Let us drive and walk safely when we must go out. Let us clear our walks and not forget fire hydrants, crossings or bus stops. Let us help others who need assistance. Most importantly, let us be patient and keep our perspective. We will all get through this together and have wonderful stories to tell about the great snows of the winter of 2009-2010. We do, however, have to be alive to do that.