Washington, DC snow crews are allegedly busy removing, hauling and plowing from the back-to-back snow storms that hit the city.
The District Department of Transportation sent out a press release on the topic Saturday morning, advising motorists to be prepared for possible detours or minor delays with roadway and temporary lane closures that would occur throughout the day on many of Washington, DC's major routes.
DDOT even has a nice, high-tech map that fills in like some computer code gone mad with special, color-coded balloons marking the streets have been plowed and salted, plowed, salted, or none of the above.
It looks impressive -- until you take a closer look at all the side streets that aren't plowed and/or salted. Even DC Mayor Adrian Fenty admitted the residential streets have a lot of buildup, as he told Bob Schieffer on "Washington Unplugged" Friday:
"...we spent a lot of time on the bigger streets making sure the city wasnt completely paralyzed. No question that getting the smaller trucks into the residential neighborhoods suffered a bit. We had them in there but we couldn't get to every one. And so those residential streets that froze before we could get to them had a lot of buildup."
The District is not the only jurisdiction being chastised for its lack of snow removal on non-major roads. NBC4 viewers have written to us from DC and all around Maryland and Virginia to say:
What plow? Neighborhood is p**sed! -- Ken Dean, Monroe Street, NW
Help we need a SNOW PLOW - if the snow trucks were unable to come down my street, then what about the everyday people who don't have 4-wheel drive and a plow attached to the front? We really need someone to come and dig us out. -- James and Anita, Fort Washington, Md.
This is the 8th day of being snowed in and there still has not been a plow down my street in Virginia. --Ginger Paris, Springfield, Va.
We have been calling and emailing county officials to plow our street for days with no response! We have small children, elderly residents and pregnant women on this street that need access to the world! PLEASE HELP US GET PLOWED!!!! -- Shirley Karver, Montgomery County, Md.
On Thursday afternoon, a plow came through and sort of cleared a lane, taking several inches off the top but leaving 3 or 4 inches beneath. On Friday afternoon, three different trucks/plows were back and forth. Numerous times, probably 8-10 passes. The first pass substantially improved the situation. Several subsequent passes by the several vehicles made only slight, barely perceptible improvement. Still only one lane clear. -- Jay Silberman, Chesapeake Street NW, DC
What is the plowing schedule and plan? Those of us who have been imprisoned at home for five days, on an un-plowed street, want to know when we will be rescued. We are not comforted by scenes of major highways that are clear and dry. The Story is in the NEIGHBORHOODS! -- George M. Bates in Md.
Consider sending your cameras out to neighborhoods in PG County to find out where on earth DPW is hiding! I live on Upton Place in Clinton, MD and PG County STILL has not plowed our street but the street leading to ours is perfectly clear! Surely they can look out of their side window and see the un-plowed street as they plow the same previously plowed street over and over again! What is their policy for when they see an un-plowed street? Even if they lack the initiative to actually do it on their own surely they can report an unpaved street to a supervisor. DPW is unresponsive! Please help! -- C.W. Coard in Prince George's County, Md.
Today (2/12) we finally saw a piece of snow removal equipment, a grader. It pulled into Greenough Place, a small cul-de-sac with maybe 12 houses. It spent 2 hours clearing the snow all the way to the pavement. Meanwhile a small plow and a sand truck waited on the corner of Ashbourn and Burke Road, doing nothing. After 2 hours, the sand truck came in and sanded just Greenough. We asked the grader driver why he wasn't doing Ashbourn and he replied that he had been told that a Judge lived on Greenough Place. We pointed out that the judge could now get off Greenough, but still needed to drive several hundred yards on Ashbourn Drive to go anywhere. He shrugged and drove awayIn the morning, eastbound Whitehurst Freeway was closed until 10 a.m. from Key Bridge to K Street, NW and inbound New York Avenue at Bladensburg was shut down to only one travel lane. -- Amy Gold, Lake Braddock neighborhood of Burke, Va.
And that's just a very small representation of the messages we've received. What's your story? Send it to us at: tips@nbcwashington.com.
If you're in DC, you can also tell the city's leaders exactly how you feel. DC Councilmember Jim Graham is holding the first of two hearings on everything from snow removal to downed trees on Friday, Feb. 26 at 11 a.m. in the Wilson Building. Contact the Committee Office at: (202) 724-8195 or e-mail ahawkinsmason@dccouncil.us.
