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What’s the deal with the snow plows not actually plowing?
01/31/2010 4:16 PM by John M
A reader writes in with a good observation (and a photo!):
Why are plow trucks driving all around the city with their plows up?!?! They drove by our house 7-10 times last night, each time doing no actual plowing. While going to Lowe’s, we’ve seen several other city plows, again, plows up off the ground. Also, interestingly, Broad St. through the Fan is slushy & snow covered, but the second you cross Boulevard going west, it’s plowed and clear!
TAGGED: question
Interesting how Broad Street as of 2pm today Broad Street was plowed down to the asphalt for Willow Lawn headed west, but once you hit the City, the plows had left a nice thick pad of compressed snow.
Same deal on Cary Street coming from the Huguenot Bridge.
It’s really bizarre.
Apparently the east end is the same as to lines of demarkation between city and county. I talked to a couple who live on Darbytown Road. They said Darbytown, Laburnum, and all the bigger streets in the east end are totally plowed – including Williamsburg Road, until they hit the city limits coming into town. They said it was a real difference, once they hit the city limits at Williamsburg Road, the streets were nasty.
I didn’t go far but 25th & Main Street is sort of clear, same with 25th & Broad, but there’s a lot of snow still there that got sloppily plowed if at all.
I did see a pickup with Verizon logo on it, blade attached and down plowing (unlike the city trucks!), plowing East Main heading out of the city, was sort of cool but I didn’t think Verizon was in charge of plowing streets! Figured it was a Verizon worker who couldn’t get to where he was going without plowing ahead of his pickup truck. He went on down towards Rocketts, plowing away as he went.
My guess.. the ice is actually more dangerous to drive on than packed snow. So they are laying down slag to melt the snow but won’t bother plowing to the asphalt until they know they can get it all of the road.
off*
I was just talking to someone about this one minute ago after my travels around town today. They are everywhere, and not plowing. There must be something we don’t understand, but I can’t imagine what it is.
Nanesmond was scraped clean. The roads on the Henrico side of the Willow Lawn area is near perfect. It’s odd when parking lots are in better shape than public roads.
Richmond city does a horrible job of taking care of the roads. In fact, it is worse than any other city I have ever lived in. I just don’t understand where all that tax money is going. And to top it off, they are asking the Feds to cover what they can’t afford.
City of Richmond truck just went by my house with plow DOWN! First one I believe!
Talked to someone who said it was on the television news tonight (don’t know what channel) that the counties, in general, have VDOT plow/sand their roads, but the cities, including Richmond, do their own. Not sure how that adds up except it sounds like VDOT and their contractors have done more plowing to the pavement than some of the city crews? Or maybe it’s as #3 Ry says, they can’t plow when it’s icy?
I think CBS6 was working that story, but don’t see why it makes any difference who plows if the City trucks are roaming around with the blades up.
Apparently the city the has the manpower and trucks to get the job done if folks are seeing them on the road.
It could be that they’re hyper-sensitive because of all the complaints they received last time out by the people who left their cars parked by the curb and got hosed when the snow plows locked them in with piles of white stuff.
What gets me is not that they aren’t around– they have driven by REPEATEDLY, but just aren’t plowing. If they can plow west of the city and east of the city, I can’t see how there’s a safety issue to plowing in the city.
I see them with the plows down, but they’re not impacting the surface. You’d think, when they got out of the truck and nothing was accumulated in front of the plow, that they’d figure that out!!
The plows are sitting a half inch above the road surface. It’s doing NOTHING.
Maybe it’s actually the horrible condition of the roads that makes it difficult. How do you plow a field of potholes down to the surface?
You are probably right, Shannon. Too bad the DOT doesn’t seem to care about repairing the roads. You almost need an SUV to drive down certain parts of Broad.
I was glad they finally plowed N 23rd last night after the sun set to get all the snow off the ice. A little sand would have minimized all the spinning tires I heard this morning. In Michigan the plow truck have a front plow for deep snow, and a under belly plow for scraping the roads. I’m glad it doesn’t snow that much here.
I spent an hour on East Main between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. today trying to get to work – a trip that normally takes maybe 15 minutes. Saw two plows, one looked like it was trying to plow a parked car between 25th and 24th, the other was headed east on Main, BLADE UP. MAJOR traffic jam, Main is one lane each way until you get to 14th Street. Then it’s a little better after that heading into downtown, but the streets are not really clear.
I’m surprised no one has called DPW 646-6430 and asked them.
Now the city says that it needs contracted help to plow the streets. However, on Saturday and Sunday I saw plow trucks going up and down Broad and Marshall Streets with plow raised, and one even came down my street with plow raised, which I expect due to the rock surface, but that truck did not spread the sand out of the back. This morning, I drove on Marshall and 25th, and neither of these streets were touched! Broad street was barely cleared, and Grove Ave west of the Museum district made me think my tire was flat with all of the bumpy snow. I do not understand how I saw trucks several times for two days but the streets were not cleared. It makes me wonder if someone wanted to give the contractors some money. For comparison, in the Dec snowstorm I could drive on the main streets the next day and it was about the same amount of snow.
Seriously, WTF? I concur with all statements made by L B (#18) with regard to road conditions and trucks not plowing. Can’t count the number of times I saw city trucks drive by my home on E. Broad with their plows raised, and without dropping de-icer or sand. Came home Friday night around 9:30 and noticed a plow truck sitting in front of Chimborazo Park. Woke up at 4:30 and saw same truck still sitting there – apparently waiting for it to snow. Now that’s a dandy use of taxpayer money. They waited and waited and when the snow finally came, they just drove doing nothing to clear the road. About as helpful as the idiots with pickup trucks and suv’s who thought it was way cool to drive through the park at high speed, just slipping and sliding away.
I thought they usually did what #3 said: they lay down sand to melt the stuff then go back through.
Plowing tears roads apart and after the last snow, our roads where in worse condition than before. So I’d rather my taxpayer money go to fixing the thousands of potholed roads that are causing me to repair my front/back end suspension once a year (very expensive if you don’t know how to do it yourself) than plow melted snow in a city where everyone parks on the street – where the plowed snow gets shoved, causing us all to scramble for parking.
West Broad had bare pavement both directions all the way to Willow Lawn earlier today.
Main Street was not only a mess this morning, but still a mess at 5:30 p.m. this evening. There were parked cars that had been plowed in that I passed this morning, but when I came home this evening, there were NO parked cars from 14th Street until 25th Street, but plenty of huge snow drifts caused by the previous plowing – the city could have done some work today but did not.
I’m calling Public Works tomorrow. This is really rediculous. I work at a large downtown company, and all of the folks I talked to said the city streets were MUCH worse than their suburban streets. Some people even said their little secondary or smalled suburban small streets were cleared, but not the downtown streets (downtown from 14th to 6th or even 5th is the area we travel to get to and from our offices).
I thought I heard a fella from the city today said that the streets were not plowed to the degree that the counties were was because a large number of plows went down with mechanical problems.
If that’s true it’s certainly something City Council needs to grill the Mayor on.
While these snow storms have been dramatic, they have not come close to matching some of the events we’ve had in the past.
If the City of Richmond vehicle maintenance shop cannot handle these relatively minor events, what will they do when a REAL storm or emergency hits?
Same on southside. Pathetic. How it doesn’t make sense to hit the roads you’re traveling as you’re headed to your destination amazes me. We’re in Stratford Hills and I haven’t seen an active plow since Saturday.
Also, why are we not recieving help from VDOT. Richmonders pay state taxes too.
Times Dispatch has picked up on this thread: “In Richmond, the Church Hill People’s News Web site buzzed after someone complained that city snow vehicles had been driving around with their blades up. North said the blades may have been malfunctioning or the trucks may have been en route to their assigned areas.”
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/WEAT02S1_20100201-211204/321610/
The R T-D picked up this thread http://tinyurl.com/yztvmcw and I second the question as to why VDOT doesn’t serve Richmond.
I live in Fulton and work on E.Main and 21st. It is dicey driving & treacherous parking. I have friends on southside who still can’t get out of their neighborhood.
In some more snow ridden cities, failure to have a good snow removal plan ensures you won’t get re-elected…..
I know this won’t make anyone feel any better, but @ 6 a.m. a truck came through my neighborhood back & forth in front of my house making all kinds of noise – and the blade was UP! I live in the very Far, Far West End. So, either the guy was very lost and thought he was in Church Hill, or the inefficiency has spread!!
#22- I had the same experience! I work downtown as well, and
yesterday most of my coworkers from outside the city commented that steets were plowed & easy to drive on UNTIL THEY REACHED THE CITY! Also, the snow plows I saw with plows up were NOT dropping sand or dirt.
Just to add to the chorus here, I personally have seen four trucks driving through Church Hill with their plows up. Two on Saturday, one on Sunday and one yesterday. The idea that these truck were “malfunctioning” or “on their way to another job” as stated by the fearless DPW spokesperson Ms. North is ridiculous and an insult to those of us who have been witness to it. I can say this much, all of the trucks I saw had a truckload of snow in their beds, so I am guessing that they were dutifully all plowing someone’s neighborhood and on their way somewhere else to dump. I don’t know. Whatever the case, I find it all absurd. Church Hill does not seem to get plowed PERIOD. In December, this was no better. It seems to me that we in this neighborhood have to put up with this nonsense no matter what. I don’t care what Ms. North says…. they will never plow up here. It’ll be like when we were hit in December – we’ll just have to wait for it to melt. And now we have ice forecasted for tonight, as well as more snow and ice for Friday and Saturday. What a lovely mess it will make on top of what we already have.
Me, too. Plows driving up and down the streets near our house last night and again this morning… plows up. Are these guys getting paid to drive around and use up fuel???
CH is usually plowed, at least Broad, Marshall, and 25th. I don’t think they plow the streets with the rock surfaces. The main streets were plowed by the next day in December with the same amount of snowfall by my measurements. The city has not had a change of leadership that I am aware of since(unless Tim Kaine told the city to keep CH plowed). What I do not understand is that several people in different neighborhoods saw plows with the plows raised and no salt/sand coming from the back.
I read someplace that they did not want to block in cars parked on the street. Well Grove Ave, from Three Chopt to Thompson, has the right lanes plowed, but the left lanes are a bumpy mess!
They plowed Libby Terrace 5 times in one day during the December snow. Put down sand as well. We hardly needed more than 1-2 scrapes that weekend.
Today I noticed they sanded the 2700-2800 blocks of East Franklin overnight and then turned North on 27th. They skipped the steep slope on the 2500 Block of East Franklin. Now that’s getting your priorities correct.
Just as the guys in California never seem to get fires under control until it rains or burns itself out….the snow will be here until the sun melts it.
Even when the city has attempted to “clear the roadway,” they completely ignore the left hand or right hand turning lane. What is up with that? I am so ashamed of how the city handles snow removal.
I am glad to hear that other areas of CH get plowed or paid attention to, and revise my last statement as the main ‘boulevards’ such as Broad and 25th get attention. But my area of the neighborhood is generally overlooked I must say, and there are no rock surfaces anywhere close. And I stand by my statement of seeing numerous city trucks with the plows raised. That is just stupid and something the city should explain to residents who wonder what these trucks are doing.
Just came from Varina, and the roads are beautiful.
I took a picture of another plow yesterday with the plow up at 24th and W. All it was doing was leaving behind a thin trail of sand that would not do cars any good. The street was slushy… why couldn’t it plow it? This is an embarrassment for Richmond…
City trucks must be malfunctioning on the Northside too. City only plowed Brookland Park Blvd yesterday. NONE of the side streets have been touch. And yes I have mult “malfunctioning” trucks driving around the Northside with the blades up.
I guess the $23k the Mayor spent on new furniture was money well spent.
Cynical me says that it’s too bad that this whole topic will probably be seen as a bunch more whining and moaning. Because for those of us who don’t have the luxury of staying inside for the next week or two, the situation is actually pretty dangerous.
Shannon, That is how the City works. Example one complains about drug dealers all the time, the city allows it self to say that person is just whiner, so the ignore it. Until of course someone gets murdered then they make speeches about how community involvement is so important.
#36 – same thing on our street. A thin trail of sand down the MIDDLE of the road on top of six inches of packed ice doesn’t do anyone any good. And for the record, the plow blade was up. I know it’s harder to plow with cars on the streets, but that hasn’t stopped them before from plowing the cars in. The whole thing is ridiculous and dangerous. If I get in a wreck on these icy roads, can I sue the city?!
Roads have not been touched by plows over just south of Carytown by U of R Stadium. I had a listing appointment over there on Nansemond this afternoon, and I literally thought that the center pile caused by grooves in the snow was going to tear the undercarriage off my vehicle. It was seriously scary. Church Hill looks awesome in comparison.
It has been days and days, now. Look at a map, Richmond. We may be spared these conditions most of the time, but we are not in the deep South. Stop acting like this type of stuff is a surprise. What a joke, and like Cadeho said – straight up, it’s embarrassing.
Well, the streets are public property maintained by the city right? if a mailman slipped and fell on ice on your property, you’re in trouble. Logically, the same should apply for the city… but who knows.
Shannon #41 and Cadeho #36- I agree that it’s embarrassing. Working in a really big office downtown, I’ve now had two days of hearing from suburbanites who are complaining about the city streets. Many of them live way out in the counties, and say that their streets are MUCH better off than ours. They have no problems until they get off the interstates and come into downtown. And they have NO CLUE what it’s like trying to get from Church Hill to downtown, unless they live in the East End – I’ve talked to four people who live either in Varina or close by, and they think it’s horrible once they cross the city line!
I rarely agree with Libby Hill Resident but this time on #32 I do – December’s snow was much better managed so far as street clearing. It’s Tuesday night, and Franklin Street hill hasn’t been touched, or had not at 5:30 p.m. when I came past it heading up 25th St.
Just up on RTD, Jones has answered our call for improvements. Looks like an intelligent response. Let’s see how it plays out.
They came down my street at 4 this morning. Now there are patches in the rock surface. I wonder how long after spring before those get fixed. Also, I only saw one other side street that looked like it was cleared.
Interesting sight just now, a City Truck plowing BARE PAVEMENT on Thompson Street.
Go figure.
Sure enough, when they finally did plow our street, it was by then only marginally necessary, and they succeeded only in ripping the shit out of that stupid pebble crap that they laid down last summer. What a farce.
Saw the mayor on the news a couple nights ago, he stated that the city had sold most of its snow removal trucks and equipment. Currently the city owns maybe 52 trucks with plows but only 30 or so of those are functional. He said that they had just ordered more using excess funds from the Manchester Courthouse construction. I wonder what else the city has sold off while we weren’t looking.
via press release:
City Prepares for February Snowstorm
The city of Richmond is preparing for another significant snowstorm. The National Weather Service predicts the storm could leave up to 6 inches of snow on city streets.
Ahead of the pending snow accumulation the city is providing this information to local residents.
All priority one and priority two roads will be cleared within 48 hours
Be cognizant of signs posted in designated Snow Routes. Parking is prohibited in those areas and towing will be enforced (see below list of routes)
When your street is plowed, there is a chance your driveway will become blocked. It is not the city’s responsibility to remove that blockage
If your mailbox is damaged during plowing, please report it to our Customer Care Center at 3-1-1
The city will begin assessing potholes immediately following the snow event. Before asphalt is applied to potholes, the temperature must be above 32 degrees Fahrenheit
Last week’s snowstorm was an unusual occurrence for Richmond. The administration appreciates the patience and understanding displayed by residents. The city will continue to make the best use of its resources to ensure timely removal of snow during future inclement weather events.
Off topic, but I hope the neighborhood blogs continue to tell us what’s open in the neighborhood.
This is a very valuable service that is unavailable anywhere else for folks who get cabin fever.
Agree with you #50!
#49 John Murden – the list of streets got cut off your post. I just found it on the city’s website, here’s the end of that post:
The following is a list of major streets, which have permanently installed snow emergency route signing to restrict parking during snow removal tasks. These are considered the snow emergency routes, which will receive priority for snow clearance/hauling.
1) Broad Street (both sides), between Belvidere Street and 2nd Street
2) Broad Street (south side), between 8th Street and 14th Street
3) Broad Street (north side), between 12th Street and 8th Street
4) 8th Street (west side), between Leigh Street and Cary Street
5) 8th Street (east side), between Broad Street and Main Street
6) 7th Street (east side), between Canal Street and Marshall Street
7) 7th Street (west side), between Canal Street and Broad Street
8) Franklin Street (south side), between Stuart Circle and 9th Street
9) Franklin Street (north side), between Adams Street and 6th Street
10) Main Street (south side), between 25th Street and Belvidere Street
11) Main Street (north side), between 21st Street and Belvidere Street
12) Cary Street (south side), between Laurel Street and 10th Street
13) Cary Street (south side), between 13th Street and 14th Street
14) Cary Street (south side), between Thompson Street and Boulevard
15) Marshall Street (south side), between Belvidere Street and 5th Street
16) Semmes Avenue (both sides), between 19th Street and Forest Hill Avenue
17) Mechanicsville Turnpike (both sides), between Fairfield Avenue and Cool Lane
18) Chamberlayne Avenue (both sides), between Westminster Avenue and Azalea Avenue
###
Posted by Richmond Virginia Press Secretary at 9:28 AM
So, they’re not plowing down Broad and up into CH/UH again? How is the major pipeline into our neighborhood not a priority?
#52, I have no clue if they are or are not, and I agree that it’s a major pipeline. I was pretty surprised when I read the list. It sounds to me that they don’t consider either 25th Street or Broad Street after 14th as major streets, but maybe that’s just my interpretation…I was happy to see 21st Street listed, but only if plowing also goes up Broad Street hill and down the other side. All I can figure is, wait and see what they do.
I came home around 5 p.m. today via East Main to 25th, and did notice the ‘snow emergency route’ signs on Main St., they’re there at least on the south side of the street (heading east). And they’ve been there awhile, they weren’t just posted this week, some are rusted.
Again, I’ll wait and see what happens on Sunday as to plowing/salting/etc. on Broad Street. I’m as curious as you are.
The trucks were out salting/sanding at least Broad and 25th earlier today.
Thanks John, that’s probably why I made it up 25th Street hill so easily!
Hopefully that’s a sign that they won’t ignore either 25th or Broad after this one is over!
Just realized, that list of streets is the ‘snow emergency’ list – those are the streets where they will tow you if you are parked there, so that they can plow. It is NOT the list of streets that get priority for plowing, it’s just the streets where you better not be parked on the designated side named on the list! Have heard that they were towing on Main Street this morning.
I think Broad has been plowed – haven’t been out to check how far, but the 2500 block looks plowed from what I can see, hopefully that means Broad St. hill was plowed too – and the snow just stopped a little while ago! Anyone else got any plowing tales?! Maybe this time we’ll have good stories instead of complaints…
We just went out to Country Style and the roads are good until you get to the county line 🙂
John, that’s GREAT news!!! Country Style is all the way out Wmbg. Rd! Last week, the roads were great until you hit the CITY limit line, coming in from the county! YAY city!
You reckon we made a difference, with all the complaints on this thread? I hope so!
Now, where’s the requisite photo(s) of the doughnuts?! Just kidding….
Shut the hell up you whiny bastards. It’s not even 10:00 on Saturday and I have seen at least three plow trucks with their plows DOWN doing their best. Give the frigging city a break for christ’s sake. What are you doing to help out?
Hey, another plow went through the neighborhood… with the plow DOWN. Going to complain now??? Do you have nothing to do but complain?? Kudos to the city.
I live in the fan/museum district and was digging my car out of the snow when I noticed multiple plows driving past on Thompson with blades up. One drove by with the blade down, but was barely skimming the surface. I was told they are paid hourly just to drive the streets, but are not required to actually plow, or are not supervised and are tired. They need someone to come behind them and inspect to see that they have done the job.
You are ignorant tweetybird. People are complaining because this city does a horrible job of taking care of the roads. Guess what? All the complaints worked. They were on top of it for this storm and now the roads look pretty good. What are we doing to help. Umm, I don’t know, maybe paying taxes that cover this sort of thing. Besides, no one has really complained during this storm. Just lots of reports on road conditions. Most of the complaints were from last storm and very justified.
Hey James, thanks for the compliment. Ignorance is bliss.
Hey James, just an afterthought, everybody complains about taxes, and what they should get from them. Ya know what? I probably pay more in tips than you pay in taxes.
So you payed $10k in tips last year? I would say you eat out too much.
The 2500 block of Poates Dr needs sand or salt just one time. The street is on a hill leading to Hermitage Road thank you very much
It’s the City of Richmond. If you have lived here for any length of time you would understand. The level of service from almost any department of the City in the 35 yrs living here has been abysmal. At least it’s fun for the kids the watch the plows go by. If you wish to disagree I can start with many examples from my playbook of dealing with them. Very sad indeed.