Annapolis crews not backing down, continue to plow through storm
“There is no city or county government that is geared up to move all of this snow.”
–Gov. Martin O’Malley, Feb. 10, 2010
Mayor Cohen wants residents to know that the City of Annapolis is working around the clock and has pulled in several contractors to make our roads passable and ensure public safety. Deteriorating weather conditions have forced other jurisdictions across Maryland and Virginia to pull plows off the roads. We continue to plow in Annapolis. The mayor thanks you for your patience during these unprecedented snow events over the past week.
Mayor,
Thanks for this place to talk, vent and yes to thanks the guys that are out there. I do know the snow amount is ridiculous but will chime in with others to say the response to the snow event probably needed a better preparedness plan to combat the plowing enormity. We have had 1 lonely guy make a pass Tuesday and loads of us need to get to work- Forest and BR are horrible and georgetown road is a hazard to vehicles trying to leave the neighborhood. If folks knew the overall schedule (like we do for trash pick up) – at least we’d feel informed about what is being done, when and how. What additional resources are being contracted etc. But thanks again for the few doing the job of many.
It’s lovely to see how many streets in historic Annapolis are now cleared all the way to the pavement. With the sunshine today, this is a great time for the plows to attempt to get to the streets that have been at the bottom of the list. Spa View Drive and Smith Avenue from Spa View up to Chase are extremely dangerous at this point. Both streets were plowed only once after the last storm (Spa View was plowed for the first time just a couple hours before the second storm hit); neither has been plowed since this latest blizzard. Things will get pretty nasty once these enormous ruts and walls of snow freeze up overnight. We can’t get out; isn’t it our turn, now that other streets are in such great shape?
I live in Oxford Landing and we have not seen any truck coming to clean since the storm started. A truck came yesterday and cleaned for a few minutes in the entrance of the community. We really need someone to come and clean at least once each street of this community.
thanks
I am planning a weekend trip to Annapolis with my daughter (2/12-2/15). We will be driving from Reagan. I was unable to rent an SUV. Are the roads clear to the Historic Inns or are we just asking for trouble? Would public works rather we reschedule to keep people off the roads?
Christy, thanks for your note. Am so glad that you are your daughter are planning a visit this weekend. Many roads in the Historic District are already clear as of Thursday afternoon. You will have no problem getting around downtown when you arrive tomorrow.
Josh
Woodlawn Ave to Maple is considered a snow connector route but no plow so far as of 2PM Thursday.
Every time we have seen a plow they have the blade up. We have pulled 2 trucks over on Edgewood Road to attempt to get our street plowed (Bay Front Drive) the 1st indicated we needed something larger, then there happened to be a dump truck parked (not operating) at Bay Woods, we requested they come down our street & were told it was not a big enough truck & they were afraid they were going to get stuck. Granted, 1/2 the road is unpaved but we have been able to get up & down the road with an all wheel drive vehicle through the 1st snow but now with the 2nd snow it is impassable. What makes the situation worse is that the City has authorized Ferguson Trenching to stage a sewer pipe along side of our road making it that much more treacherous & providing another excuse for the City trucks to not plow our road. To be clear no one plowed the road after the 1st snow storm we shoveled our way out & drove repeatedly to create tire tracks which should have made it very easy for a plow truck to navigate the road.
The dump truck driver said he would need a back hoe, that’s ridiculous, a properly loaded dump truck is plenty large enough to knock down some of the snow so that residents can get up & down the road. We are not asking to clear it to the bottom just enough so that we can get all wheel drive vehicles up the road although getting it clear all the way would be nice.
Please enforce the law that all sidewalks should be cleared within a reasonable time. This is the third major storm and some of the residents on my street still have not picked up shovel, even after politely asking them to do so.
Please disregard my previous email. The truck came back, the plow is down. THANK YOU.
I live on Jackson Street. I truly understand that our street is not any kind of a priority. I did not expect to see a plow. But one did go by, a city plow. There was only one issue — THE PLOW WAS UP. If a city plow were to come down our street, couldn’t he (it was a he) at least put the plow down? Perhaps there is some sort of mechanical reason for this, but it was hard to see. Thank you.
To Vlad, Jeff and others who have asked about the road conditions by my house:
I gave explicit instructions, several times, to my senior staff that the city was not to give special attention to my location.
My house is on the corner of Monterey Avenue and Tolson Street in West Annapolis. Monterey is one of the three main routes up and down the peninsula, and it was made passable by Sunday afternoon. Tolson Street is a side street. Tolson Street and several other side streets in West Annapolis were plowed as well. However, the reason Tolson looks as good as it does is not because of city snowplows but because we are fortunate that a neighbor of ours has a snow blower. He has spent hours after each snowfall clearing snow from the roads and from neighbors’ driveways, ours included.
Josh
Thank you, Mayor Cohen, for responding to citizen suggestions to employ private contractors to help with snow removal. A snow plow finally came down South Cherry Grove Avenue from West Street for the first time since last weekend. However, the plow turned on Kentwood Street and cut back to McKendree. South Cherry Grove extends beyond Kentwood with 13 houses beyond the plowed area. I’m not sure why they didn’t do a complete job while they were here. Any chance a plow could finish the rest of the street?
Mary, thanks for your note. I’m on a plow now and we are making a pass down to the end of S. Cherry Grove past Kentwood.
Josh
I think it’s ridiculous for any elected official to criticize another’s leadership during an event of this magnitude. No one in the state was prepared to handle this much snow and I know the City of Annapolis is doing its best to remove the snow and clear the streets and not just waiting for “the sun to melt the snow.” People need to be patient! There is nearly three feet of snow out there and major roadways need to be cleared first. With one storm after another, you can only do so much. You’ll always have those who say you’re not doing enough, but if they took a walk in your shoes for even a day during these snow events, I’m sure they would understand the burden you and the city are facing. Keep up the good work!
Hi Mayor Cohen,
Just a thought: For those of us not in the city (we live in So.County after 9 years in Annapolis Cove), might the city have some web cams to show the condition of the major roads, e.g., Forest Drive, West Street (which I understand is a state road), Rt. 2 near Parole etc.? When you can get out of your own community to drive to work but have no idea what you’ll find in the city, it’s a little nerve wracking. Probably a budget constraint now but in the future it would be a good idea. Thanks so much–Jan Wilson
Sir:
Can you please have a plow do Southgate Ave to the end for the first time. This street has yet to be plowed from the storm last week.
dff: Thanks for your note. It’s 7:40 on Friday morning and one of our crews is down there now.
Josh
Josh, first of all thanks for the free city garage parking. What a relief not to have to scrape and dig out our car. If only more of our neighbors used the garage our street, South Street, would be easier to navigate and eventually for the city contractors to clear . . . . So glad you are continuing to keep crews on the road plowing!
Don’t complain about the city – they are doing a fine job. Josh, we need everyone to shovel their sidewalk and driveway and then do the same for those in their neighborhood who can’t or won’t.
Mike Miron is not only an employee he is a resident of 6th street. His coments are self-serving and expose the way Josh operates. I have pictures of crews near Josh’s home–they are told to go by there often.
Please tell us Josh, what the conditions are like at your house, We have a man waiting to release pictures and a complete story ( with interviews). You can be transparent with us now, or you can wait for ” ShovelGate: The real Josh Cohen” soon to be release in a well read arena. You are going to pay for your arrogance.
Thanks for sticking with it and getting us dug out. And thanks for keeping us informed about the progress.
Mr. Cohen, you response to the criticism directed at you by Mike Miller shows he was spot on. Now maybe you can let the people you pay take over and do something to cut my taxes !!!!!
My sources have reported that the road in front of Josh’s house is clear and is getting attention on an almost hourly basis.
I live in the Annapolis Walk Community and I have yet to see a plow. During the first storm, the community had to pay a contractor because Annapolis City did not come in our neighborhood. We had to pay again for the second storm. Hopefully, this storm will be different. I am not asking for much, but a run through of a plow would be great. I don’t expect it to be cleaned down to the pavement, just a quick run through would help. Passable is all I want.
I live in Eastport and Second St. has been plowed just once in the last 5 days. I just saw a plow come down the street with the plow in the UP position. This is about the 4th time I have seen this. I don’t understand! These streets aren’t passable and a plow drives right over it without scraping it!
Funny how there isn’t a single bad comment allowed to stay up here. I haven’t seen a plow down our street since Sunday, Locust Ave. right by the stadium. I guarantee that if there was a Navy game this weekend we’d have seen 50 plows down our street already.
No worries, the residents of 300 block of Locust Ave. won’t forget this come next fall when next Navy season rolls around. You can expect NO ONE parking on our block nor on the park across the street tearing up all the grass, not if we can help it.
Please plow more than passable areas for 4 wheel drive vehicles. Harold is not the driver in our family and I need clearer roads.
First, I am not a city employee. Second, I am glad to see that most people recognize the enormity of this event and that all employees are trying their best. The sun is out – I’m going out to shovel again and I send my thanks and appreciation to all who are and have been working so hard!
I also have a lot of respect for all the hard work done by the DPW crews — back-to-back storms of this magnitude have put an incredible burden on everyone.
The area of S. Southwood Ave., Virginia Ave., Homeland and Ritchie have not seen a plow even once during these 2 storms. Although some SUV’s were able to get out after storm 1, now even they cannot get through (yesterday a Jeep got stuck in this neighborhood).
This is no longer a matter of convenience, it is a matter of public safety. We have several eldlerly homeowners in this area, and in case of a medical or fire emergency, all of us are trapped — no firetruck or ambulance could possibly through.
I implore the City to get us just 1 lane plowed — we are not looking for a complete cleanup, like the City has done on many other streets, but give us some help. We can’t get out, and if an emergency arises, help won’t be able to get in.
I called the DPW three times between Saturday night and Tuesday regarding Genessee Street. I’ve lived here 31 years and always saw a plow within 24 hours of a storm. The woman answering the phone was extremely polite and explained in detail what was happening. She assured me that a plow would make it through. I did see a city plow on my street Monday evening with the plow up! Can’t tell you how thrilled I was when 2 plows cleared a path Wednesday afternoon. However, it is frustrating to see plow after plow on West Street, some with the blades up, and then see side streets not cleared at all.
This blog is getting good now,Im starting to see some healthy dialog.I loved the one about plowing the same street 10 times(note, my st. was plowed once this season-and that occured when the st.didnt even need plowing.Anyway,after venting the other night,I finally realized-Who cares!The city will do what they can and I will do what I can.The snow will be gone soon, and everyone will be able to go back to spending money they dont have- and things will be back to normal. Do what you can, and let God do the rest!
Mr. Mayor,
I am sure the dpw department is working hard but we have not seen them in the Ambridge community once during the entire winter storm. I have made phone calls and emailed to no avail. I am hoping there will be no tax increase, since I do not seen my tax dollars helping me in this sitution. By the way I work at AAMC and I am having a hard time even getting to work.
Lin, thanks for your email. A City plow has been in Ambridge at least three times since the first snowfall. The second time through I was riding on it and we hit both Berwick and Langdon. The plow went through there again yesterday evening to clear more of the cul-de-sac. My understanding is that all streets in Ambridge are now passable. Please advise if this is not the case.
Josh
Spending my first winter as an Annapolis resident, I have to say I personally have been generally pleased with how well snow removal has gone considering how bad the snow was, very good job to all involved. My only suggestion would be to focus more on sidewalks in the future, when snow is bad enough that people are forced to walk, it would be nice to not be in the street.
Josh, you won’t remember me, but I was a long time resident of Eastport, and a friend of the Moyers….I think you are doing an excellent job with this…this almost rivals the late 1970’s and some other storms I grew up with..you are doing well, don’t listen to those who have no idea of the logistics of this removal, keep up the good work!
We pay excessive fees and taxes to live in Annapolis. We expect Westwood Road to be plowed — it has not been for a week.
Mayor Cohen, a contractor from Severna Park hired by the City arrived in our historic district neighborhood yesterday with a Bobcat and worked on Conduit, Market, and Shipwright Streets. Shipwright had a large icy wall of snow in the middle of it left by another plow and they removed it. Thank you for hiring the contractors to help out!
I think people need to chill out and check into reality. Thank you for continuing to plow and persevering. This is an historical amount of snow for this area not the usual 3-6″ and, as frustrating as it may be, this area does not have the equipment on hand to handle it. The comments from people comparing our snow removal to places that experience this on a regular basis are just not logical.
I agree that the plows have done a good job, but i think they need to figure out which streets have already been done 10 times and which streets have not been plowed ONE TIME AT ALL in the PAST WEEK. It is a lot of work and mother nature is a tough woman to fight.
I can’t seem to find the current level of Snow Emergency on the Annapolis.gov home page. There is a lot of good information there and it seems like the current Emergency level should be prominently displayed also. And I’ll add my congrats to the DPW crews as they work through this difficult time!
Dear Mayor Cohen
I count three city employees in the above comments that are familiar to me by name-Judy Ridgway, Ulric Dahlgren and Mike Miron. Perhaps others are city employees as well. While they are of course welcome to post comments as private citizens, it seems to me that those as well as many other comments may be part of an orchestrated effort to “pad” the comments here. On the other hand, maybe it is good policy to exclude city employees from posting on here. I am not sure, but perhaps it is worthy of discussion and action on your part. At the very least, perhaps city employees should be identified as such.
Hi Paul, thanks for your note. I have not asked anyone to post positive comments — city employees or otherwise — nor to orchestrate anything like that.
Josh
Great job to all the plow drivers! We have seen you plow and then after you go by the wind just blows the snow back over the road. Thanks for working so hard and hang in there! As to Lucy, if you love Chicago so much, why don’t you go back there? Unless you have a true emergency you should stay off the streets until the snow emergency is lifted! The plows can do a better job if non-essential driving is curtailed!
I really appreciate all the work that has been done so far for this storm. I realize that there is a large amount of snow to be plowed, but I am curious why not even one plow truck has been through my street in the past week. My neighbors and I have been trying to shovel ourselves out of our street but I do not see why the other streets in my neighborhood have been plowed numerous times, and mine, located in Hunt Meadow, Fox Hollow Lane to be exact has not been plowed once. I believe one plow started and it stopped in the middle of our street. This is not fair to the residents of our street who pay the same in taxes as everyone else in this city.
Thank you to all the emergency, snow removal & everyone that has been involved in the process. Great Job! To all who get in their way and drive when you have no business doing so: IDIOTS!!!
I don’t live in the City, but I went to the new Rec Center yesterday evening (Monday) and went home To Bay Ridge Rd via Bay Ridge Ave. What a mistake. BR Ave is in horrible condition. 8″ deep washboard ice, slush a foot deep; nearly impassable. I was afraid the car would break apart–at 5 mph. Have you seen Forest Dr? By Monday PM, it was cleared from curb to curb, all the ice scraped down to the pavement–at least the County part of it was. BR Ave is a major City artery. This could be a PR disaster for Mayor Cohen. We lived in the Chicago area in the early 80’s and Mayor Jane Byrne lost her reelection bid in part because people were so angry about snow removal. I know the City is in financial straits, but if it doesn’t own a loader that can clear this road, HIRE ONE, or several. Do the folks at Public Works not know this?
Lucy, we have a crew working on Bay Ridge Avenue through the night. The ice is hard to break through but we have two front-end loaders doing what they can.
Josh
Our Public Works crews have always been special, way more responsive and dedicated than most. They, and those who are guiding them in their efforts, deserve the gratitude and support of the citizens of Annapolis. This is a time when we all need to pull together and support our neighbors. Especially, people should not expect the impossible – a snow this deep and this heavy will take time to clear.
I have lived in the Baltimore metro area my entire life and in Annapolis since 2003 and have NEVER seen the volume of snow that we have received since December. My hat goes off to everyone who is working to get this mess cleaned up. Thanks to all for their efforts.
I am a native Annapolitan. I have never witnessed such an event in my 48 years–here or anywhere else in my travels. I applaud the efforts of all the men and women working tirelessly to serve the citizens of Annapolis, as well as the Mayor’s office for keeping us well-informed and alerted to new information. Thank you!
Mayor Cohen the city crews are doing one heck of a job hope they keep up the great job they do no matter what is asked of them hats off to dpw.
Hats off to the dedicated work of the DPW staff and contractors who are
working their buns off during these storms. I have seen better service in
the past week than ever in Annapolis snow storms.
Tell O’Malley he needs to get that message to Mike Miller—he might be able to send a note home with the newly appointed Judge Mike Miller III.
Thank you for continuing to plow.
Josh,
You are to be commended for this effort. I have lived in Annapolis since 1971 and have never seen a weather event this consuming on the public and private sectors.