This is a photo of Lincoln Street taken at about 1 p.m. on Sunday. But it could have been taken in many places in Newton today. Our streets are narrow — certainly too narrow for on street parking in most places (even though I saw a lot of people doing so this morning). Private and municipal lots have many fewer spaces due to giant mountains of snow. Sidewalks remain unclear, poorly cleared, ridiculously narrow, or blocked. Pedestrians are walking in the street — and not even looking up at the cars zipping by. People are shoveling snow onto our streets. Big clumps of snow are falling from the roofs of uncleared cars. It’s impossible to see around corners when you drive. And the Green Line isn’t running.
While we were all aware of the dangers of being out in the middle of the blizzard, being careful, taking your time and taking a few deep breaths, is just as important now.
Waiting on the announcement that school will be cancelled or late arrival.
There are only so many plow guys. Most of them probably pulled 36-48 hours straight. They gotta sleep sometime.
My big beef: sidewalks on walking routes to schools. I suspect that if I were to try and walk the route to any school in Newton tomorrow, there would be lots of unshoveled/unplowed areas forcing kids into the road. Given how many parents “multitask” in the car while driving kids to school, it’s a wonder the only place I hear about kids being hit by vehicles is the corner of Crafts and Linwood over by FA Day.
Drivers PLEASE hang up your phones, save your coffee for stop lights (or better yet, your destinations) and focus on small bodies and headphone wearing tweens/teens to step out of nowhere while you’re driving.
I finally got out this afternoon and I guess I am pretty unhappy with how the streets have been plowed. Many of the major streets are okay but the feeder streets and certainly the side streets are very narrow. It’s almost impossible to walk on the sidewalks because so many of them have not been touched. And those that are, the curb cuts remain totally plowed in. Like many of us, I spent my day yesterday shoveling out my entire sidewalk and helped my neighbors as well. About an hour after I was done, a plow guy came to do the driveway to the house across the street from me. He backed out of their driveway and into the snowbank on my side and pushed all the snow back onto my sidewalk. I was bulls**t and went out to let him know. His response to me was he was just trying to make a living. I made it clear to him he was not making that living on my sweat and hard work and I expected him to re-shovel my sidewalk. And I made it clear I would call the police if he refused. He wasn’t going to comply but in the end he did, under my watchful eye. There are so many stories like this and it’s frustrating how selfish people really are. Very discouraging.
This storm should be a wakeup call to those aldermen who supported the shoveling ordinance. The expectation of a citizen shovel brigade clearing hundreds of miles of sidewalks after a major snowstorm like this, has been demonstratively proven farcical. My message to those aldermen who voted for the shoveling ordinance… Shove it! Time to get real and fund sidewalk snow clearing. The Mayor should have specifically included sidewalk snow clearance in his override proposal.
I pay someone to clear my driveway and sidewalks, as I am physically unable to. It’s mid-afternoon Sunday and he still hasn’t shown up (I called last night and he promised to be here this a.m.) I want to be a good neighbor (not to mention wanting to be able to leave the house), but it’s rather difficult under these circumstances.
Here Here Mike. After 4.5 hours in my driveway yesterday I had nothing left to do the sidewalk. I have to get out there and do it today. I’m in pretty good shape. I can’t imagine what that is like for anyone who isn’t. This is a lot of snow.
These are exceptional circumstances. We’re going to have to be a little more patient and tolerant of the snow clearing crew, who are no doubt about to go around widening streets and plowing us all back in. I expect the DPW is doing its best, balancing the need for workers to sleep and also trying not to break the budget (contractors seemed to be called off the job long ago) It’s easy to point at the blizzard as an impossible task for residents to clear snow. The wrong answer is to expect the city to staff up to handle the worst storm with ease, buy new equipment and manage new operations to clear 24+” of snow off every city sidewalk.
My street is narrow, but it will get better. I think all sidewalks are clear except for one residence.
If you want to see what a generally good job Newton did this storm, just get onto Waltham St. and drive north into Waltham. High St. is significantly narrowed, and covered with 3″ of hard-packed snow that’s going to turn into a sheet of ice when the rain hits it tomorrow. So I’d say we’re far better off than at least one neighboring town.
@Doug, we are far better off then many cities and towns but it’s this City we pay taxes to! 😉
@Adam– In a previous thread, I asked you specifically if you felt a citizen brigade of shovelers was the best way to handle snow clearing from hundreds of miles of sidewalks in Newton. You wrote that it was. Now you see the result. School is cancelled tomorrow because the sidewalks are impassible. The money Newton is spending tomorrow on teachers and administrators who will be sitting at home, would have been enough to pay for all the sidewalks in the city to be cleared.
I have never had a problem shoveling out my property, and its long, corner-lot sidewalk. But, alas, I am getting older and this storm has done me in! My sidewalk is unshoveled, and my two car width driveway is down to one. I cannot find anyone willing to plow out anyone but their regulars. Now I have firmly been in support of the overrides but I’m thinking……if my property taxes go up, and I have to hire someone to plow or risk fines in the future….Imma packing up and headin’ outta Dodge…um, Newton, by the next blizzard. Cant afford to be here anymore.
I am conflicted on this. I and my neighbors on either side on Central have a nicely cleared sidewalk, mostly thanks to a neighbor who didn’t mind running his electric slow blower up to help. However, that is it really getting to the corner with Washington involves sidewalk, street, sidewalk, cross street before corner, and then mess. Verizon has done a great job clearing their sidewalks on the corner but did not touch the curb cuts along two sides of their property. They did clear out a driveway and also a cut for their employees to get from the Central Ave parking lot but nothing for access along Washington. There are neighbors on the corner that have a 5-foot drift on their sidewalk, snow the city pushed there. They should not have to clear that, I mean really, even with a snow blower its not gonna happen. That said I don’t think it is a good use of funds for the city to buy enough equipment to be able to clear a blizzard of 2+ feet overnight. What we need to do is make sure the equipment we have can be used for multiple purposes, and that we make sure we have enough contractors and staff to run it 24 hours a day (with breaks for maintenance etc).
I think a citizen brigade is a good thing and we need to have some way to organize and get the word out about it. But the city also needs to do a better job of prioritizing specific routes, and if that means not clearing dead-end streets with less than x houses on it fine. A brigade can take care of most storms, but even then this brigade needs to be able to call in heavy equipment for real problems (like my corner neighbor above).
I could envision an appointed or elected position for each neighborhood. This person collects volunteers from that area and has access to call them up for storms. They also have a direct line to Public Works and are charged with calling in major sidewalk blockages. Volunteers could get a small tax break if they worked x storms during the season (if that is needed to get folks to volunteer). I think a combination could work very well (better coordination and/or more equipment on the city side and a volunteer clearing brigade on the resident side). For example if it’s a minor storm, an inch or up to 5 the Newtonville brigade gets called out to clear specific sidewalks (after you have done your own) they would help clear out Walnut St or Washington St (for example) beyond the business district. The city would clear the business district using their equipment (partial costs covered by business abutters maybe) and any corner or other specific areas the brigade directs.
I don’t know but remember this is a bit of an anomaly, just like we need to stop building parking facilities for peak usage (black Friday) we shouldn’t have equipment and staff on hand for peak snow events. Just like mall parking, it mostly sits empty and wasted most of the year.
Mike, you are misleading people to state that the sidewalks are the only reason schools are closed tomorrow. The city is still trying to deal with the streets, parking lots, and snow mounds, and not all of the NPS staff commutes from Newton anyway. I’m sure you know that teachers will teach the same number of days in their contract whether the schools are open tomorrow or not. And the Ed Center is open tomorrow. Surely, you can do better than this line of reasoning.
I think it’s also a giant leap to suggest that the city could have handled clearing every sidewalk after this blizzard by Monday AM, regardless of the budget. I still think residents shoveling the sidewalks is the most practical way to go. In extreme events like this, we’re going to have to settle for less than perfection, unless you truly think it’s fiscally responsible to overstaff our department to handle sidewalks in extreme weather cases like this in a timely manner.
@Adam– I’m misleading people? Me?? You’re the one who suggested hand shoveling by the citizenry was the best way to clear snow from sidewalks citywide. But I’m the one who’s misleading people???
You got exactly what you wanted, a renewed shoveling ordinance. And THIS is the result. Impassible sidewalks. Closed schools. Congrats!
The amazing thing to me, is that you “still think residents shoveling the sidewalks is the most practical way to go.” Have you ever considered a career as a Sea Captain, Adam? They always go down with the ship too.
Mike – I’ve come round to your opinion. I know snow clearing can be done by citizenry – but it’s just so not the culture in Newton. Even churches and Whole Foods (the healthy store!) tell me sidewalk snow clearing is not their job. I see no enforcement of the current snow ordinances.
Add to that city contractors who plow in cleared curb cuts blocking pedestrians from cleared sidewalks and I give up. Other than Vicki Danberg, I don’t even see any elected officials even trying to address the problem.
The city doesn’t need to clear all our sidewalks – but some streets, like Grant Avenue, are way too dangerous for people to walk in. And with Grant Ave being so close to the T, there are always going to be people walking year-round.
Lucia, what makes you think the DPW, which is having so much trouble managing subcontractors who are plowing in our curb cuts and barely clearing (but not salting) the sidewalks already plowed, is capable of managing the much larger task of clearing every sidewalk in the city?
Nobody is out issuing parking tickets today. Hopefully they’re out issuing tickets of non-compliance to businesses who did not shovel.
@Adam– Let me ask you a question. Of all the things local government is called on to do, why is sidewalk snow clearing, which is unquestionably a public safety issue, THE thing you think they should abandon?
Mike,
First of all, it strikes me as odd to ask the question using the term ‘abandoning’, since the last time the city took full responsibility for clearing all sidewalks, according to previous discussion threads, it was done with a horse and plow. Also, I don’t object to the city plowing major sidewalk routes and those along city properties.
The answer to your question is that there are priorities in life. If money and logistics were not at issue, I would be the first to insist the city do the work. I care deeply about pedestrian issues and I think as a society we should be doing more to encourage pedestrian activity and reverse the trend where people have become so dependent on the automobile. Sure, people will get hurt if sidewalk and street surfaces are not prepared properly, but when it comes to public safety, there’s no comparing the two: the reason streets need to be kept clear of snow and ice goes beyond convenience and getting us to work and school, keeping our economy running, etc. It’s so emergency response crews can save our homes or save lives, even during a storm.
So, we set priorities, and streets will always land on top. Even though you think it would be trivial to add to the override, money is a big factor (and I argue that $ estimates based on the present level of service are inadequate) and there are other options, options you don’t like. With streets, it’s not feasible for everyone to plow their own section of street, certainly not in coordination with emergency vehicles. With sidewalks, it is possible, though as Lucia points out, for many of us, it’s not in our culture. Lastly, we can reference other communities with this policy, and while it may not work in the absolute worst of storms, there’s really no reason it can’t work most of the time. We may not be able to afford perfection when it comes to our sidewalks, but if a house is burning down, we ought to have a lot less tolerance.
Now my question for you, why do you make your argument as if we’re the only community to ever place this responsibility on the homeowner?
Adam – I think if contractors were responsible for clearing the curb cuts as well as the roads, they’d pay attention to them.
Lucia, I agree.
@Adam– I disagree with you on one critical point. I believe clear sidewalks are as important to public safety as clear roads. You don’t! In fact, here’s what you wrote about roads vs. sidewalks. “… when it comes to public safety, there’s no comparing the two”.
This particularly appropriate euphemism comes to mind, Adam. You talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk. You say you want clear sidewalks, but you really don’t want to pay for them.
The City can prioritize street sweeping ahead of sidewalk snow clearing, and you’re fine with that. The City can lose two days of parking revenue because people can’t get to the meters, and you’re fine with that too. More than 10,000 Newton students couldn’t go to school on Monday, because the sidewalks weren’t cleared. Hundreds of teachers got paid to stay home. You’re down with all of that, never even contemplating you may be part of the problem.
You’re an enabler, Adam. Helping enable the Board of Aldermen to shirk their responsibility, with this ridiculous notion that citizen sidewalk shovelers will do a better job than a coordinated, mechanized effort by the City. Funny, I haven’t seen any of your like minded aldermen friends blogging about this topic since the snowstorm. I wonder why that is?
Now to the question you asked me. “…why do you make your argument as if we’re the only community to ever place this responsibility on the homeowner?” For the record, I never suggested Newton was alone in requiring taxpayers to shovel city sidewalks. I recognize it’s done in other municipalities. My objection is based simply on the fact that it doesn’t work. At this point, I would thing that’s stating the obvious.
Mike, I give up. Why do you insist on making everything personal? Can’t you have an intelligent, friendly conversation without resorting to personal charges?
@Mike: I agree with Adam, not on the point of who should be responsible for shoveling sidewalks, but that your comments are unnecessarily personal. Good people can disagree and I happen to know that you are both good people. Let’s focus on the issue, it’s an important one.
@Adam– “Personal”? Do you mean my calling you an “enabler”? If that’s what you’re referring to, I really didn’t mean it personally. I just think that everyone who has bought into this idea that a shoveling ordinance is the solution, has collectively enabled the BOA to avoid responsibility.
and I’m happy to say we agree to disagree. I tried to give honest answers to your questions, Mike. If you believe that clearing sidewalks is on par with saving a life or a burning building, I respectfully disagree. I want clear sidewalks and don’t want to pay for them (beyond priority clearing and the sorts of tasks the DPW already does) Guilty as charged. We disagree there also. I maintain that nobody really knows how much it would cost. Past DPW estimates seemed to be based on the current level of service. How’s that going again? Sure, teachers got a paid day off, but they’ll work a day for free in June instead. Don’t see your point there either.
I’ve questioned your assertion that schools were closed exclusively because of sidewalk conditions. Crews didn’t seem to work on sidewalks in the interim, and the freeze up only added black ice, so that seems to be a false assertion. You raise interesting questions about opportunity cost for meter operation. Sidewalk clearing in business districts has a very different set of requirements and ordinances, but fair game for discussion. Proposals were made to redirect those meter patrols also. Can one really trade street sweeping for sidewalk clearing? There are questions of elasticity, but I’ll also point out that street sweeping is more than making the streets look pretty, it is done to prevent flooding. That’s kinda important.
I’ll turn the question around one more time. Show me a counter example: a city of our size and density where all sidewalks are plowed, treated, and kept clear by a municipality. I haven’t heard of one and would be most curious to see what that looks like.
Adam– Where did I say that clearing sidewalks is on a par with saving a life or a burning building? I simply said that clear sidewalks are as important to public safety as clear roads. Point being, failure to do either effectively, will almost assuredly result in a public safety hazard.
As far as agreeing to disagree… I’m fine with that. Neither of us is going to change the other’s opinion. The reason I blog on Village 14 and the other Newton blogs, is to try and shape public opinion on issues critical to our city. I don’t expect to win everyone over. And I do sincerely apologize if you felt personally attacked in any way. That’s neither my style, nor intention.
It sounds like we agree on the importance of clearing sidewalks and both sincerely want it to happen. I think the value to the community is huge, even more important than clear roads to some people in their daily lives, but there are other factors when it comes to ranking public safety. Perhaps we’re getting bogged down in semantics there.
We’re going to disagree on the method. I think I’ve made every point I can make on the subject. I appreciate your last note and I’m happy to move on.
“I’ll turn the question around one more time. Show me a counter example: a city of our size and density where all sidewalks are plowed, treated, and kept clear by a municipality.”
@Adam – Last time we had major blog discussions on this issue I did in fact find a comparable city (in upstate NY to my recollection) and posted about that. I spent a few unsuccessful minutes trying to locate that post but the comments are no longer accessible. If I find a few extra minutes I will try to locate that information again because I think you will find it interesting.
I live on the Carriage Road which normally has very high pedestrian traffic. The sidewalks on my block are clear from end to end, but as I travel west there are a couple of my neighbors who have not cleared their sidewalks. Even though my block is clear, the vast majority of the pedestrians I have seen are still walking in the street which leads me to conclude that without uniform and consistent clearing of the sidewalks, people default to walking in the street.
@Adam – Rochester, NY
http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589936460
Thanks, @Lisap. Good information. I don’t remember seeing that before. If it was in in the old TAB blog discussions, it’s a shame but they’re apparently lost forever. I’m curious to hear how well this works and why it’s not adopted by more cities. The fees certainly seem reasonable. The city takes some risk, since it’s obviously not a fixed cost. Interesting that street plowing, sweeping and sidewalk repair are also itemized, and that it’s still ultimately the resident’s responsibility. I wonder how that works in practice. They probably don’t have to deal with that opt-out problem either.
The property owner’s responsibility:
The Code of the City of Rochester, New York specifically states that property owners (in the case of commercial properties, first floor tenants) have a legal obligation to clear sidewalks adjacent to their properties of obstructions including snow, ice, and snowplow residue. See the sections of the city code detailing a property owner’s snow removal obligations.
The City’s role:
The City of Rochester provides supplemental service to help property owners clear their sidewalks during a substantial winter storm. Rochester is one of the few cities in the United States to provide this service to its residents.
Sidewalk Snow Plowing Facts
The City begins plowing sidewalks once new snowfall exceeds 3″.
The City plows all sidewalks that are at least five feet in width.
Each sidewalk plow run takes about five hours to complete.
The City plows 878 miles of sidewalks. These miles are divided into distinct sidewalk plow runs of approximately 15 miles.
Depending on the severity of a storm, sidewalk snow plowing policies must sometimes be altered meet the needs of the situation.
The City uses private contractors to plow sidewalks.
Sidewalk plowing usually happens in the evening and early morning when pedestrian traffic is lowest, but this schedule is modified to respond to actual storm conditions.
Fees
Sidewalk snow plowing is financed by an embellishment fee on your property tax bill that is based on the front footage of a property. Please see Embellishment Charges for Local Works for additional information.
This is roughly how it now works in my parents’ town in Michigan. But you can opt out. For those that do, the plow lifts its blade as it passes your house. Then you’re responsible for doing your own shoveling.
My mom, who does her own shoveling despite Parkinson’s Disease, says the plow guy usually leaves the blade down when he goes over what she’s shoveled, widening her path a bit.
I walked three miles the day after a snowstorm there three weeks ago and I never once had to walk in the street.