Shoveling hall of shame: Dick Durbin and NPS

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Shoveling hall of shame: Dick Durbin and NPS

by David Alpert • February 13, 2010 11:21 am

Dick Durbin has joined the ranks of Congressmen who pick on DC for its inability to instantly, magically melt several feet of snow that smashed the all-time record.

Unshoveled sidewalk at Battlefield National Cemetery. Photo by James.

But Durbin might want to look a little closer to home for the source of some problems.

Along Pennsylvania Avenue, for example, the worst job clearing snow came from the National Park Service, part of the federal government in which Durbin is so influential. Commenter Kelly writes:

I walked in [Friday] morning ...along my usual route down Pennsylvania Ave SE and Independence Ave SE/SW.
Residential and business sidewalks were well-cleared except for the blocks along Pennsylvania Ave SE maintained by the National Park Service (4th-6th / 7th-9th) which were completely unshoveled or plowed.

To be precise, while Seward Square (4th-6th Streets SE) is indeed an NPS property, the Eastern Market Metro plaza (7th-9th) was transferred to DC in 2006, and the District hasn't shoveled most of its parks either. Still, NPS has plenty of unshoveled spots all over the region. James, who lives off Georgia Avenue, writes,

Although extremely frustrated about the lack of plowing on my side street, I've been understanding of the District's limited resources and limited plowing capabilities. What I don't understand, however, is how the National Park Service has neglected to shovel the long portion of sidewalk in front of Battlefield National Cemetery, located between the Takoma and Brightwood neighborhoods on Georgia Avenue.
All the neighbors on the blocks around the cemetery, including a Safeway and a CVS have cleared their sidewalks after every snowfall. NPS has not. Seven days since the first flakes fell and not a single shovel has hit the cement. I've witnessed countless people make the decision to walk in the cleared, but dangerous, street rather than walk through the stretch of uncleared sidewalk. So, what's NPS's excuse?

It's good that Durbin realizes that our snow response could be better. How about he talk to his friends on the National Parks subcommittee about holding a hearing into why the Park Service isn't doing its part?

In recent storms, they've plowed the freeway through Rock Creek while ignoring the walking and bicycling path. What was the agency's mission, again? But maybe that sits just fine with some of our Senators, who generally get chauffered by SUV from their homes to the parking lots at the Senate.

By the way, this is bizarre: the NPS directions page for Capitol Hill parks recommends taking the bus from Naylor Road on the Green Line to get to Seward Square, or a bus from Eastern Market and then walking three blocks when the park is just a single block's walk from the Metro. Marion Park (around 5th and South Carolina SE) suggests a bus from Anacostia with no mention at all of the one-block walk from Eastern Market.

10 comments

Tags: Brightwood, Dick Durbin, Georgia Avenue, NPS, shoveling, snow, Takoma

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Enforce sidewalk shoveling, especially for large properties (Feb 9, 2011)
Shovel brigades clear out sidewalks and bus stops (Feb 15, 2010)

David Alpert is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Greater Greater Washington. He has had a lifelong interest in great cities and great communities. He worked as a Product Manager for Google for six years and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He loves the area which is, in many ways, greater than those others, and wants to see it become even greater.

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and in the 3 years i've lived in Arlington, they've never plowed the 15 mile Mt Vernon Trail, running within the GW Parkway ROW. The Mt. Vernon Trail is the only bike route from my house in S. Arlington to my office in DC, via the 14th St Bridge. Why should the counties and DC bother building a regional bike infrastructure, when a key link in the system will be impassable for weeks because the NPS won't recognize their role in our multi-modal transportation system?

by darren on Feb 13, 2010 12:11 pm

In each of the last three storms we have gone out cross-country skiing through Rock Creek Park. And on each occasion the gusto with which the NPS has cleared the Parkway has been astounding (and frustrating to those of us who wanted to use the snow to recreate in the park).

Last weekend's storm was particularly notable: With Rock Creek Park looking like a winter wonderland we skied the segment from Calvert down to the Potomac, which was - for once - almost carless, except for the two NPS plows, in interstate-double-plow configuration. They passed us three times in in an hour - scraping the snow and muck off of the already cleared Parkway and flinging it at us and in our path.

It would have been so nice had theyspent the midday shoveling the sidewalks on Pennsylvania Ave. and gotten to the roadways in the park a bit later, so we could have enjoyed the weekend snow.

(Quite frustrating too is the Zoo closing that results in no path from upper Rock Creek Park to lower that doesn't go through the car tunnel)

by egk on Feb 13, 2010 2:46 pm

It was the same story on Penn on the other side of city. On Sunday, while the IMF, World Bank, and other businesses had literally crews of people clearing snow from curb to facade, Murrow Park and Monroe park had not even seen so much as a grain of salt. At that time it the snow was fresh so it was still safe to walk on it.

Now though, these parks have simply become dangerous. Last night, we got off the Metro at McPherson square to switch to a 50s bus and practically killed ourselves walking along the western edge or the square to the bus stop. It's like walking on an ice rink except 10 times more dangerous because it's not remotely flat or level. It's really pretty deplorable.

by Erik W on Feb 13, 2010 2:58 pm

I have honestly never heard of someone complaining that roads were plowed to quickly before. Just goes to show you can't please all of the people all of the time.

by dcd on Feb 13, 2010 3:51 pm

@dcd - well there it is! [Of course the real complaint that the Parkway, like so many park roads in the District, is treated as a commuter artery.]

Still, you've got to admit that it is ironic that the park (one of the few places you might like to have snow) was plowed to excess, while city streets were left to ice over. Me - I would have liked to see those plows clearing P st. instead; my bus to work still isn't running.

by egk on Feb 13, 2010 7:00 pm

NPS didn't even shovel several of the well-traveled paths in the ellipse. Secret Service won't let you walk on the shoveled parts, they make you walk on the icy (no: not icy - solid ice) walk. Grrrrrrr.

by DavidDuck on Feb 13, 2010 9:40 pm

Thanks for calling attention to NPS' negligence. They have been tough to work with on pedestrian and bicycle issues, and now this.

by Douglas Stewart on Feb 14, 2010 9:37 am

Not to defend the Senate, which is pathetic these days, but it's simply not true that Senators get "chauffered" in SUVs. (A few leaders, including Durbin, may get that service.) This is one of the myths about Congress that gets played in movies. But, you're right that Congress often fails to do right by the District.

by ryneduren on Feb 14, 2010 9:25 pm

Whether or not Durbin, et al., get "chauffeured" the reality is most pols at the Congressional and upper Executive Branch level live in a bubble and have little contact with ordinary DC residents and little knowledge of their concerns. All they care about is that they and their staffs can get to their Hill offices. And, I suspect, that if NPS officials were to get hauled before a committee to explain their non-performance in snow removal, they would simply whine about funding. That said, the triangle parks are a disgrace. The only ones that receive any attention are those that have been "adopted" by the neighborhood. Why aren't these small parcels and neighborhood parks turned over to the District DPR, or non-profit conservancies? NPS has never shown much interest or competency in managing neighborhood parks, so why can't they simply be unburdened of that responsibility? In the end, I suspect, it's all about bureaucratic turf, staffing and budgeting.

by Paul on Feb 15, 2010 9:22 am

Re: plowing Rock Creek Parkway. I am very disappointed that none of the trails have been touched. As for the road, RCP all the way up to Wise is listed as a Snow Emergency Route in DDOT, and thus gets first priority in plowing. I do not know if NPS or the city is doing the plowing.

by SJE on Feb 15, 2010 10:24 am