SPRINGFIELD — Taxpayers are rarely satisfied with the condition of Springfield streets following a winter storm, but the complaints were especially loud following a pair of back-to-back storms last week.
On Monday, about a week after the snow fell, more than 20 people went before the City Council to say that the Department of Public Works had done an especially bad job removing snow during the season’s first major storms.
“It was worse than ever,” said Gerry Reardon of Crest Street in the Upper Hill neighborhood. “It’s down to one lane, three feet of snow on one side and four feet on the other.”
Reardon said he used his own plow to open his driveway.
“I told the city that I will use my own truck to plow my street,” he said. “And I’m going to bill the city. I am appalled at the way the DPW did its job.”
Many folks brought photos with them, pointing out icy ruts and places where children have had to walk to school in the street because they can’t access sidewalks.
Councilor Marcus Williams, chairman of the Maintenance and Development Committee that oversees public works, said the city’s 311 information hotline received 1,817 calls Dec. 3 and 1,196 Dec. 4. Each one of those days, the call volume was about twice what the city gets during an average snowstorm.
“It was poorly done,” said at-large Councilor Tracye Whitfield.
Christopher M. Cignoli, the city’s public works director, said the blame lies with the back-to-back timing of the storms. Some 6 inches fell Sunday, Dec. 1, into Monday , Dec. 2, and 13 inches fell Monday into Tuesday, Dec. 3. The snow totals were larger than meteorologists predicted, and the two storms generated the fourth largest accumulation in Springfield since 1940.
The storms were also early in the season, when contractors who would normally plow snow for the city are instead finishing construction projects that are more lucrative. Normally, Cignoli said, his department has 130 plow trucks available at the start of a storm. This year, it had 105.
“They don’t show up,” Cignoli said.
The plows that were available started at 11 p.m. Sunday night and finished at 4 p.m. Monday, then took seven hours off and went back to work on Tuesday.
"Once the snow stops, it takes us at least 12 hours to do the entire city," Cignoli said.
That’s if the trucks can pass up and down the street. Springfield has a perennial problem with drivers not obeying parking bans. Cars parked on the streets make it impossible to plow snow. During last week’s storms, the city ticketed 780 cars for violating the parking ban and towed 275.
"I always say we could ticket 5,000 and tow 2,000 if we had time," Cignoli said.
During ticketing and towing operations, some car owners threatened plow driver’s lives, Cignoli said. “I want that to sink in,” he said.
Because the city was slow in getting to many side streets, the snow got packed down and frozen in place. He said crews have been out in the days since the storms salting and sanding and cleaning up, preparing for more snow showers expected Wednesday.
“That is where you see ice now,” Cignoli said.
The total expense for the two storms was $395,000. This fiscal year’s snow removal budget is $1.96 million, and the DPW usually has to come back to the City Council for more money, Cignoli said.
Councilor Orlando Ramos asked Cignoli if streets are inspected. Cignoli said yes, but that plows became less successful after cars drive on streets and pack down the snow and ice. Pretreating wouldn’t have helped, he said.
“The timing of the storm was a killer,” Cignoli said. “During that day, people were coming and going and packing the snow down.”
Many of the complaints were from people who wanted the city to plow their driveway — which the city doesn’t do — or upset that a plow made one pass down the middle of their street but never came back. Cignoli said the city will sometimes make one pass down the center of the street so folks can get out, and will then come back.
“In the last three or four days after the storm, we were out every night with salt and sand taking care of complaints,” Cignoli said.
But folks in the crowd Monday night didn’t have a lot of patience for Cignoli, saying he should be ashamed at the state of city streets.
Bill McNamara of Maplewood Terrace said this is the worst he’s seen the city streets following a snowstorm in his more than 30 years living in Springfield.
“It’s not right,” he said. “The streets are still not clear. If you pull up to any stop sign you are liable to just slide right on through.”