Why has DC failed so badly on clearing the streets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's a lot of snow (not ice) on the streets that could be plowed. Where I live, cars are getting stuck and slipping because of all the snow that's still in the streets. The ice is more of a problem with parked cars and alleys.

Today, 1/29, there is exactly zero snow on the streets. It's all ice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

Why does it matter when someone moved here? Whether someone has been here for 40 years or 4 years, if they are a taxpayer, they deserve to have competent city services.

Welcome to the South! DC is now handling storms as if we live in Raleigh, NC where I grew up. It's fine to just let the snow melt and chill out if you're a Southern city that gets a major storm once a decade. That's what our weather looks like, more and more, so our policies are changing to be those which are rational for a Southern city.

The next part of the equation: new transplants proclaim their Northern city's superiority while us southerners roll our eyes and make an apple pie.

Ok, well, DC says it owns more than 300 snowplows. Buffalo has 36.

That’s because they contract out snow plowing events.

Yes, and as soon as a random work truck with a plow blade on it realizes it's no match for these ice blocks, it heads home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a lot of snow (not ice) on the streets that could be plowed. Where I live, cars are getting stuck and slipping because of all the snow that's still in the streets. The ice is more of a problem with parked cars and alleys.

Today, 1/29, there is exactly zero snow on the streets. It's all ice.

Not where I live. Cars are getting stuck because of the snow.

[Anonymous]

The DC government is bad at almost everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

NYC got 15 inches of snow. Boston got 23 inches. DC got 6.

Also, it seems rich for longtime DC residents to accuse transplants of being whiners about the weather. Have you lived anywhere north of here? Where I grew up, they don't cancel school unless it's snowing so much that you can't see the road in front of you.

We got 5 inches of snow, not 6, but then we did also get another 4 inches of sleet on top of it. Capital Weather Gang said it was the equivalent volume of frozen precipitation to 20 inches of snow, but heavier and more compact.

I think the removal has been very bad, even with that being the case, but there's no reason to pretend that the legitimate problems from the ice are just imaginary. D.C. definitely doesn't have the snow removal infrastructure that Boston has, because most years, D.C. gets nowhere near as much snow as Boston does -- if we had Boston-level snow plows sitting around unused every year, we'd all find that to be an outrageous waste of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived here since 1993 and have never seen a storm like this (snow then sleet that quickly compacted into ice, followed by a record-breaking cold snap). I shoveled multiple times on Sunday and the ground was already concrete by early evening. The vast majority of the plows in DC can easily handle snow but not a slab of ice. I’m not sure what all the people whining about this wanted the city to do?

And the whiners — almost all of them very recent transplants — also conveniently neglect to point out that things are just as bad in Virginia, Maryland, Philly, NYC (the crowing by Mamdani fanboys has been overtaken by complaints, and how many homeless there have died because of his new policies) and Boston. They act as if DC alone is struggling.

NYC got 15 inches of snow. Boston got 23 inches. DC got 6.

Also, it seems rich for longtime DC residents to accuse transplants of being whiners about the weather. Have you lived anywhere north of here? Where I grew up, they don't cancel school unless it's snowing so much that you can't see the road in front of you.

In Boston you walk in the snow nobody is expected the walkways to be shoveled … wear boots walk on snow.

[Anonymous]

It’s supposed to get to the mid 30s next week. We are just going to have to wait it out.

[Anonymous]

Can we blame Trump? Or our terrible mayor? Who is in charge of rock hard ice removal? The national guard? Or ICE? Mother nature? It sucks living here. Get used to it.

[Anonymous]

Can't remember the last time I saw a snow plow out. And yet the city says:

"When the snow team is at its full strength, more than 800 people and more than 500 plows (including municipal plows as well as contractors’ plows and rental plows) will be working, divided into 12-hour shifts for the duration. All team members – plow drivers, front-end loader operators, salt dome monitors, command center staff, administrative staff and technology staff – have been trained in their specialties."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a lot of snow (not ice) on the streets that could be plowed. Where I live, cars are getting stuck and slipping because of all the snow that's still in the streets. The ice is more of a problem with parked cars and alleys.

Today, 1/29, there is exactly zero snow on the streets. It's all ice.

Not where I live. Cars are getting stuck because of the snow.

It's not just snow. The second half of the "snowstorm" was entirely sleet, which is ice. It all compacted together. It only looks like snow from your window.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a lot of snow (not ice) on the streets that could be plowed. Where I live, cars are getting stuck and slipping because of all the snow that's still in the streets. The ice is more of a problem with parked cars and alleys.

Today, 1/29, there is exactly zero snow on the streets. It's all ice.

Not where I live. Cars are getting stuck because of the snow.

It's not just snow. The second half of the "snowstorm" was entirely sleet, which is ice. It all compacted together. It only looks like snow from your window.

Where people actually drive? It's snow. I've helped dig out three cars so far that were stuck on my street. It doesn't take long, because it's snow, but it shouldn't be happening this many days after the last snow.

[Anonymous]

Perhaps the city should have been aggressively plowing on Sunday before everything froze over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps the city should have been aggressively plowing on Sunday before everything froze over.

Nothing froze over. It was always ice. That is what sleet is.

[Anonymous]

Go drive around Virginia. It's nothing like DC. The roads are SO much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go drive around Virginia. It's nothing like DC. The roads are SO much better.

That's not at all universal. Alexandria is in worse shape than DC.