The storm has passed. The shoveling is (mostly) over. How did it go in your neck of the woods?
This was without a doubt one of the worst storms in a long while for those who had to move the snow. It was the heaviest, densest snow I’ve seen in some time.
How are the streets and sidewalks today in your neighborhood? Did your Advil supply hold out? Did your shovel snap? Did your snowblower start? Tell us about your snow storm and whats happening in your village today.
“Our City plows will be making several passes along streets as the snow falls to make sure roads at first are passable, and then widening them from the center toward the curb or the edge of pavement to allow safe two-way traffic. As we all know, this causes the extremely frustrating situation of seeing a plow push snow back into the driveway or sidewalk you’ve just shoveled. It’s happened to me and I understand, it’s a pain.”
I found the above portion of the Mayor’s email amusing. We luckily purchased a snowblower in December. I cleared our sidewalk nice and wide and then came back to see it covered in snow by the plows. I got the snow blower out again to repeat the earlier process but thought about those who had gone through the trouble of shoveling that heavy mess who may have ended up in the same situation. Our neighbor’s plowing service had already come through and cleared their sidewalk which was also now a mess. I used my snowblower to clear their sidewalk but once again wondered about others in this situation. Are they supposed to pay their plowing service to come out for a second visit? It seems like the City could do better. Some people benefit by getting their sidewalks cleared because they live on school routes whereas others are forced to clean up for the City.
I’ve been through West Newton/Auburndale/Newtonville where the sidewalks are okayish, but it’s pretty icy out there. Not sure we’ll be able to walk to school safely tomorrow.
Agreed about the heaviness of the snow. Just clearing the car off took an unexpectedly long time and it left me with a sore arm. Back seems OK. :-)
Sounds like a potential for a Sunday to Monday storm brewing.
We had a little hiccup yesterday. A particularly big plow tried to come down our particularly small street (Spring St) and encountered some low hanging branches. There was a bit of a delay sorting it out but they eventually did a great job clearing and salting the otherwise impassable street.
This morning as I was working I saw a truck from the City’s Urban Forestry Dept come up the street to apparently survey these problematic branches. It’s nice to see that the plow people talk to the tree people, and to see different city departments working seamlessly together. I think that’s often the hardest part of city government to get right – the internal communication.
For about 8 or 9 years we struggled every single storm to get our street plowed, sometimes waiting for days. The tiny street was not on the plow drivers’ radar and no amount of phone calls and emails could seem to get it permanently put on their radar. Every storm we would go through the same cajoling, pleading and begging. What’s worse is that it’s a hill and I have a 2 wheel drive car so other than for very small storms we were trapped until the plows freed us.
I’m delighted that over the last two years the plows just turn up on their own every storm now. We made it on to their radar and now we’re feeling like full fledged citizens of the city ;-)
We still have to wheel our trash bins a block away every week but I’m more than happy to deal with that so long as the streets get plowed. There are definitely both virtues and curses to living on a tiny quiet street.
Our street near Charlesbank got the usual good treatment (always happy to report that). Not to the curb, which would be ideal, but close. I rarely have complaints about the street plowing, something I type at the risk of jinxing things.
ETA: The street was clear enough that those who needed to were able to resume on-street parking without causing any obstruction issues.
First Baptist in Newton Center on Center St., wonderfully cleared parking lot, ugly mess on the front sidewalk with a bus stop.
The same big houses on Grant Ave near Beacon perfectly cleared driveways, blocked sidewalks.
Will be placing the same 311 requests as after the last storm. Hope springs eternal!
As of Noon on Wednesday CVS at 1199 Center St has done zero clearing of snow on the sidewalk.
I live very near Albemarle: I was pleasantly surprised when I went out early Tuesday, mainly because the rain had held the snow totals down — although, of course, the wet made shoveling more of a chore. But the sidewalk plow had gone through, which helped enormously, and between us my downstairs neighbor and I got most of our (long) driveway cleared. I didn’t drive anywhere until today, but our street and those near it were generally just fine.
I guess it’s supposed to be mainly sunny and in the high 30s tomorrow, and then we get rain Friday, so that will get rid of some more of the snow. Of course, it might (or might not) come back Sunday night — oh well, I didn’t have any Super Bowl parties to go to, anyway.
The plows cleared our Waban street in a timely manner but buried some of the sidewalks in boulders difficult to plow or shovel through. I followed Dave Epstein’s advice and cleared my driveway and sidewalks with my snow blower in the evening when the snow had fallen but a few inches and again the next morning, after an additional two inches of slush had fallen- a wise precaution. I don’t know if my snow blower could have gotten through if I had waited for all to fall.
Sad to say, once again the same neighbor up the block employed a plowing service that barricaded the sidewalk to the south. Nor did that neighbor clear the sidewalk from that driveway to Beacon Street. Those on foot, from school children to seniors, are thus forced into the road by a dangerous corner. Trust me that this neighbor is no retired elder on a fixed income. The city clears his sidewalk fronting Beacon Street. For a few dollars more he could arrange to leave the other stretch of sidewalk clear and the driveway unencumbered by high piles of snow on the side. Sometimes, the wealthiest among us are the stingiest and least considerate of their community.
Sorry to hear that Bob, I wonder if the city can be (or is) responsive to calls about things like that, especially on school walking routes.
Also: what would we do without Dave Epstein? I’m an Epstein Stan (as the kids would mock me for trying to say).
I used to live on a busy street in West Newton and thus the plows would go by several times during a storm, dropping snow back into the driveway apron that we just cleaned. And the same for the sidewalks. It was a huge pain but we shoveled it over and over until the storm and plows were done. I’m not sure what can be done to make this any better, either on a busy street or on the quieter street I live on now. In my case, I live on a school route and I honestly wish the sidewalk plows would stay off the sidewalks! The big tires make massive ruts and the plows leave a layer of snow that just turns to ice (but full disclosure, I think I’ve only seen the sidewalk plows once or twice in 6 years!)I guess the trade off for wanting streets plowed to the curb is extra snow on the sidewalks and in the driveways.
What, no snow or sidewalk post for the first snow storm of 2022?
The side streets are pretty bad. I’m really hoping they get treated before the temps cool and it turns to ice.
It’s icy out there, folks!!! Be careful.
Beautiful storm, though. Winter wonderland yesterday afternoon.
For the first time in memory, a minor miracle occurred. The plows made their final run before I cleared out the driveway and walkways. I was anticipating their return during the night, but that didn’t happen and they did a very good job clearing our street.
First, I wondered what the glitch was with the blog calendar and one woman talking about Tuesday snow. Then I realized those posts were from last year. Funny!
Enjoy the day and let’s thank the sun for doing a final sweep on driveways and sidewalks!
I am enjoying the day and appreciating Nature’s wintry bounty. Once again, though, too many neighbors are not fulfilling their communal obligations and clearing their sidewalks. Intead, they shovel narrow paths to their driveways and leave any other part of the sidewalk by their houses unshoveled. Needless to say, kids and adults and seniors and dog walkers are forced into the street, which remains a bit icy on the edges.