Subscribe free to our daily email newsletterRockville Readying For More Snow — Pitch In And Be Prepared
Feb 8, 2010 14:41 - 17 Comments
As most in the area know, we are expecting another snow storm that may dump five inches and more in a region from DC north along the eastern seaboard. Double-whammy time, and I know for a fact that there are a number of secondary streets in Rockville that have not yet been touched by our hard-working road crews. The City is doing its level best to keep up and get in place for the next snowfall. There’s a >message on the City web site that asks residents to keep cars off the street and to be as patient as possible:
The City of Rockville thanks residents for their patience and understanding as we deal with the effects of this historic storm. We are working as hard as possible to clear all 160 miles of City streets.
All available personnel and equipment has been deployed around the clock to clear roads and the City is securing additional equipment to assist. Primary roads are clear and crews are working on secondary roads, as they are now the priority.
City crews are working as quickly as possible to clear the neighborhood streets, but the expected snowfall on Tuesday and Wednesday this week may delay progress on secondary roads, as crews may be required to clear primary streets again.
Residents are asked to stay off the roads to allow crews the space to plow.
Residents are asked to move cars off of roads now and keep them off of the roads during the coming snowfall, as some roads have not been plowed and others will need to be plowed again. Residents may move cars into community center parking lots or the three Town Center parking garages. Parking fees are suspended in the Town Center parking garages through Thursday, Feb. 11.
Recycling and refuse collection has been suspended indefinitely as those crews have been reassigned to clear streets.
If you require emergency transport assistance call the Fire and Rescue Service at 240-773-0027.
Here’s my take: Given the unprecedented nature of this snow emergency, we are playing catch-up. It is important to note that secondary streets that are not yet plowed by the time of the new snowfall may have to wait even longer than expected.
People who are on those yet-unplowed streets ought to plan accordingly. Those who are able to get out and about might check on their neighbors — maybe there are people next door who do not have the ability to get around in the deep snow and could use some groceries or other support. Private individuals who own their own snow removal equipment, if they are not otherwise occupied with critical activities, might consider helping a few neighborhood streets out. We need to pull together in a situation like this. Our Fair City is doing what it can but we can all pitch in, too. The more we work together, and keep a good attitude, the more resilient we will be as a community.
If your street is not yet plowed, please post it here in the comments — and if it gets plowed, post that too! Maybe we can make this spot a resource so we can know who needs attention and what resources there are that we can bring to bear. Share your stories. Be constructive and helpful.
We’ll make it through, but there may be some tough sledding ahead. Better to anticipate the worst and be pleasantly surprised, than hope for the best and be disappointed.
When Recycling and Refuse service is restored, crews will pick up additional bags of trash. Don’t put recyclables in a plastic bag, or they will go in with the trash. Better to use an additional cardboard box or your old blue bin.
I just noticed that the Community Centers, swim center and senior center are open, does this seem like a waste of time and resources to anyone else. Our crews needed to spend time on City streets and walkways instead of opening up centers that are more than likely going to be empty. Sounds like a chance to save some money.
Farsta Court is thigh-high with snow; gonna be a while before they can dig me out!
Lawngate Court. Not plowed and almost out of oil. I can Watts Branch is plowed. The city couldn’t have plowed a lane up a court connecting to Watts Branch.
Paca Place is still unplowed, though some enterprising neighbors dug out the end of the street. Those of us on the cul-de-sac are still snowed in. I’ve tried getting in touch with the city to make sure we’re not passed over—the street may appear to be plowed at the end due to my neighbors’ hard work—but no luck so far getting a response.
Update: Still no plow, but the city responded to me on their Facebook page, which I very much appreciated. Thanks, city staff!
Fletcher Place has not been plowed.The last four houses on Bradley Ave near Fletcher Place have not been plowed.
Thanks to James Bisnett and Emmett Bisnett Maple Ave between 28/First Street and Reading Ave has been cleared since Saturday. Along with the sidewalk, multiple driveways, etc. Emmett deserves some neighbor award for all the work he’s done with his snowblower.
Our street, Templar Ct. which is right near Baltimore Road hasn’t gotten plowed yet
carr avenue from wilson to owens is NOT plowed. the neighbors plowed up to that point and i innocently drove down the street only to get stuck! i couldn’t back up. i am now waiting for AAA to tow me out, been warned that if i don’t leave quickly the “neighbors will be very angry.” i am writing this at 6:30 PM monday
The only lanes plowed on eastbound Veirs Mill at First Street are the left turn lanes. Neither of the thru lanes have been touched. This makes for an even more dangerous merge from S. Stonestreet.
AAA got me out. i’d stay off all side streets…the public works director said at mayor & council tonight that only 25% of the “secondary” streets had yet been plowed.
Happily, Paca Place was plowed Tuesday morning at 8:30.
As of the noon shift change today (Feb 9), all streets in Rockville have received at least one pass. If you missed it, I would encourage you to tune in on the City’s website to the City Manager’s presentation last night about the snow removal efforts. It was very educational. This was a once in a century storm and the snow was much heavier than the December event. Plows were getting stuck now and again, we’ve had some attrition to our equipment, and the City crews had to divert for some emergency situations including getting PEPCO to outages, medical emergencies, and sewer backups. Last night Mayor and Council voted $300,000 above the City Manager’s usual spending authority to acquire and keep as long as is necessary some front-end loaders from out of state to attend to the secondary roads.The map that the City Manager showed last night (probably wasn’t seen on the TV) showed the primary versus secondary routes. It turns out that about half of the City’s streets are designated primary and these are indeed prioritized. The Director of Public Works, Craig Simoneau, stated how important it was to maintain control of the primaries. He said if we lose those, then we lose everything including emergency access, the ability for others to help us out, and so forth.The road crews are making extraordinary effort to clean up the streets. It’s not going to be easy to deal with this next storm. The road-salt vendor has been ordered by the state to sell all salt to the state. So the City is using what it has judiciously. And there is not a lot of room to put any extra snow!We have several pieces of equipment now in the City from other places. It’s not cheap; fortunately we have the reserves to deal with it.If you have cars on the streets, get them off if at all possible. You can park in any of the cleared lots at the community centers, the Civic Center, the Senior Center, and the Town Center garages for free.Mark PierzchalaCouncilmember
Just reading this now, 2/10, as the wind is howling outside from round 2. If last weekend was once-in-a-century, the two combined are once-in-?? And yet here we are. the drifts from this could be huge in places. There is no room to put more snow…get ready for Rockville Pike 2 lanes each way.We are going to be a while recovering from this. A measure of patience on the part of all will go a long way. Patience, helping your neighbors, spending some time indoors with family. All good things.
Thank you to the City of Rockville for all your hard work keeping our roads somewhat passable in this challenging winter.I can’t even begin to imagine how long and tiring your days are trying to keep up with back to back mega storms. Kudos to you all!
The sun is shining; it is Thursday, February 11. Seeing the ice and snow melting is a great sight. Let’s all be glad the snow has stopped for a while. The snow will stay with us for a long time.This has been an atrocious snow storm. I have never seen so much snow in all my life. The city, county and state has not been spared of the inconveniences this 2010 snow blizzard has caused. Closing the government for almost a week indicates how bad the weather and road conditions were.I compliment the City of Rockville staff and Mayor and Council for doing everything they could to get our City streets plowed. There will always be someone who is not happy. Yes, many of the neighbor streets didn’t get plowed fast enough for some, but there were good reasons.Snow removal service is one service that is good in our City and it is used to justify our city taxes. The City also has contingency funds to handle emergencies. This year we had to dig into the fund.No one in Rockville will forget the 2010 snow storm. Hopefully, no one got injured (besides strained muscles from shoveling snow).