Posts about Shoveling

12 hours in denser areas: The County should immediately amend its sidewalk ordinance to state that all property owners and lawful occupants of vacant or improved lots in the Developed Tier and in Centers and Corridors are responsible for removing ice and snow from abutting sidewalks and away from abutting fire hydrants and drains within 12 hours after the precipitation ends (or by the immediately following noon, if the 12-hour period expires between 5:00 pm and 5:00 am).

• Sidewalks should be cleared to a minimum width of four feet and, if ice cannot be removed, the pathway should be treated with salt, sand, or other de-icing material.

• County inspectors (who could be specially trained, unpaid deputy volunteers, such as civic league members) should begin inspection/enforcement patrols no later than 18 hours after the precipitation ends.

• Properties in violation of the sidewalk ordinance should be photographed, cited, and fined (no warnings) and ordered to comply no later than 36 hours after precipitation ends.

• Properties not cleared by that point should be cleared by the county within 48-60 hours after precipitation, and the property should be assessed the costs of cleanup.

• Elderly and disabled property owners and occupants should be able to have snow removed at the county's expense or for a reduced fee. Absent or vacationing property owners should likewise be able to register with the county for a reasonable fee to have snow removed from their sidewalks.

• Street plowing in Centers and Corridors, and along commuter and school routes, should be done in a manner that will not obstruct sidewalks, bus stops, etc., even if that means that not all roadway lanes will be available. For example, a 2-lane road should be reduced to 1.5 lanes if plowing the full 2 lanes would block an adjoining sidewalk.

36 hours in other areas: All other county property owners (in the Rural and Developing tiers and outside of Centers and Corridors) should be required have snow and ice removed from sidewalks, fire hydrants, and drains within 36 hours after the snowfall.

• Systematic enforcement by the county of the snow ordinance in these areas would be optional, but inspectors would follow up on reports/complaints from neighbors and cite property owners appropriately.

• Properties found to be in violation should be ordered to comply within 18 hours following citation, and county cleanup would be provided within 36 hours following citation.

General policies:

• The County should be fully prepared at all times to handle snowfalls with accumulations of up to 12 inches. If greater accumulation is anticipated, the county's contingency plans should be designed to marshal the necessary outside resources and private contractors so that its regular snow removal time frames are not extended by more than 24-36 hours.

• All residential roadways in Centers and Corridors and in the Developed Tier should be made truly "passable" (i.e., no more than 3 inches of packed snow and properly salted/sanded) within 24-36 hours after a normal snowfall and should be plowed to bare pavement within 72 hours.

• The county should implement snowplow-tracking technology, such as that used in Howard County, so that DPW&T and the residents have up-to-date, real-time information on snow removal progress.

• County officials should post written updates on snow removal progress no fewer than once every eight hours for the duration of a snow emergency. It is inexcusable that even though the snow emergency that was declared on February 5 had still not been lifted as of February 18, the last official snow removal update we received from county officials was at 11:00 a.m. on February 10, in the midst of the second round of the blizzard.

• Within 6 hours after a declaration of a snow emergency, and before the snow starts to cripple the community, cars parked on snow emergency routes and on the odd-numbered side of non-snow emergency routes should be ticketed and, if they would interfere with snow removal efforts, they should be towed.

Do you have additional or different suggestions?

To be sure, the "Snowpocalypse" of February 2010, with its combined back-to-back snowfall accumulations of more than 30 inches over six days, shattered all previous records and was wholly atypical for the mid-Atlantic region. It wouldn't have made financial or practical sense for any local government in this region to be prepared to recover instantaneously from such an anomaly.

But Mr. Fukuhara didn't die in the immediate aftermath of the storm. This happened eight days later. The federal government had reopened six days earlier on Friday, February 12, and Metro had resumed normal operations at all stations and on all bus routes that same day.

A bus stop (left) and Lyndon Hill Elementary (right) on Old Central Ave. Photos by Bradley Heard.

Even the Prince George's County Public Schools had reopened the day before Mr. Fukuhara's accident, on February 17, albeit with some trepidation, "due to the severe snow and ice conditions of sidewalks and bus stops in the surrounding neighborhoods of schools."

The county's failure to ensure that sidewalks and other pedestrian and bicycle paths are promptly cleared of snow and ice—particularly in and around transit station areas, schools, bus stops, and other areas where pedestrians should reasonably be expected—reflects its overall pattern of disregarding the safety and comfort needs of citizens who either choose not to or are not able to travel in automobiles. Walking, bicycling, and using public transportation are seen as second-class modes of travel that interfere with and, thus, should be subordinated to the almighty, gas-guzzling, smog-producing, road-clogging, traffic jam-engendering single-occupancy vehicle.

It is the same twisted logic and sentiment that causes the county to build bigger and wider roads without adequate sidewalks and bike paths, and approve massive suburban sprawl developments rather than focusing on providing high quality transit- and pedestrian-oriented development in its already-urbanized transit-rich inner-beltway core. With those kinds of misplaced priorities, it is small wonder that the county now finds itself with more than 1,800 miles (and 5,000 lane miles) of roads to maintain.

Lydon Hill Elementary (left) and M.L. King Jr. Hwy (MD-704) (right). Photos by Bradley Heard.

After being deluged with citizen complaints, the County Council requested a briefing from the Department of Public Works & Transportation concerning its response to and management of the recent snowstorms. In his public statement requesting the briefing on February 16, council member Samuel H. Dean (D–Dist. 6), a current candidate for county executive in 2010, first expressed his thanks "that no great personal loss or misfortune occurred" as a result of the County's handling of the snow removal effort.

Sadly, two days later, Mr. Dean's declaration proved to be woefully premature, as Asa Fukuhara's unnecessary death bore witness to the tragic consequences of county's inadequate snow removal and pedestrian safety plans. Dean also wanted DPW&T to address particular "[c]oncerns around questions like what is meant by 'passable roads,' and why cul-de-sacs are prioritized differently from other streets." What was missing from the council member's statement was a request that DPW&T and/or the county's Police Department explain why, eight days after the conclusion of a snowfall—even a record snowfall—the county's pedestrian paths could not be made "passable" under any commonsense notion of that word for schoolchildren, transit riders, and others who depend on them.

But for the grace of God, I could have been Asa Fukuhara. Like him, I reside less than a half-mile from a Metro station (in my case, the Addison Road–Seat Pleasant station). On the same morning that Mr. Fukuhara set out walking to work, I, too, left my house on foot and headed to the Metro.

My neighborhood street, though "passable" for automobiles, contains no sidewalks, even though the county's plans have consistently called for all roads within the vicinity of the Metro station area to have sidewalks on both sides of the street. That forced me to march up the middle of the street—dodging cars as necessary.

Once I got to Central Avenue (MD-214), I faced the same situation as Mr. Fukuhara: the poorly-designed-but-nevertheless-existing sidewalks on this six-lane major arterial road were blocked by mounds of snow and ice, leaving me with no choice but to walk in the vehicle lanes on Central Avenue. I hoped and prayed, with each step, that some crazy, inattentive or inexperienced driver did not accidentally careen into me.

Fortunately, unlike Mr. Fukuhara, I made it to the Metro. And when I returned to the Metro station later that night, I had to repeat the same harrowing experience as I had earlier in the morning. Only this time, it was dark, and I'd already read the sad news about Mr. Fukuhara.

All of Prince George's County's citizens, including pedestrians and transit riders, should be afforded the ability and opportunity to travel safely throughout the county. County officials should make that happen, and we should hold them accountable for doing so.

Over a dozen neighbors from all over Tenleytown worked together to open up paths and make walking safe and easy again, including Ben Nieva, Mike Sires, Steve Kelley, Athan Manuel, Angie Das, Hedda Garland, Felix Garland, Jenny McCarthy and Chris Frantz, as well as some whose names Neil might not have recorded.

That group focused on the street corners, which had become less passable with every visit by the plows. The delay of one day had allowed most owners and businesses to clear their sidewalks, but the hardening slush in the streets was still tripping people up. They even put down some salt and sand provided by the local Ace hardware store. The Current sent out a reporter, who also recorded an audio segment for WAMU.

Unfortunately, snow on many busy sidewalks had already condensed into packs of ice, preventing the group from clearing more. David and Rob were only able to clear about 60% of the sidewalk across Connecticut Avenue after two hours.

Many businesses and organizations also deserve attention for their lack of effort. In Tenleytown, Neisha Thai and several other establishments south of the Metro stood out. Circle Management left their construction site next to the Metro uncleared, while they or their tenants fulfilled the responsibility on the rest of their properties.

The Georgetown Day School shoveled its 42nd Street Sidewalks well enough, but its long stretch of sidewalk on River Road was left completely untouched. Finally, the National Park Service proved the worst offender, shoveling none of their many properties around Tenleytown. There are similar stories in neighborhoods all around the region.

But while other people let down their neighbors, it was reassuring to see so many people out on a snow day, helping each other out. Everyone came away knowing the others a little better as well.

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?

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.