Comments on: Rockville Readying For More Snow — Pitch In And Be Prepared

By: Brigitta Mulilcan

Brigitta Mulilcan — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 21:24:21 +0000

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).

By: Lisa Abrams

Lisa Abrams — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:56:44 +0000

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!

By: Andrew Field

Andrew Field — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:27:37 +0000

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.

By: Mark Pierzchala

Mark Pierzchala — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:48:06 +0000

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

By: Becky Warren

Becky Warren — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:41:07 +0000

Happily, Paca Place was plowed Tuesday morning at 8:30.

By: Theresa Defino

Theresa Defino — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:49:58 +0000

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.

By: Deb Stahl

Deb Stahl — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:33:25 +0000

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.

By: Theresa Defino

Theresa Defino — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:31:24 +0000

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

By: Adam Lax

Adam Lax — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:05:32 +0000

Our street, Templar Ct. which is right near Baltimore Road hasn’t gotten plowed yet

By: Tim Wood

Tim Wood — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:31:50 +0000

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.

By: David Greene

David Greene — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:42:31 +0000

Fletcher Place has not been plowed.The last four houses on Bradley Ave near Fletcher Place have not been plowed.

By: Becky Warren

Becky Warren — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:33:58 +0000

Update: Still no plow, but the city responded to me on their Facebook page, which I very much appreciated. Thanks, city staff!

By: Becky Warren

Becky Warren — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:21:21 +0000

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.

By: Bill Bird

Bill Bird — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:20:29 +0000

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.

By: Jonathan Smith (New Mark Commons)

Jonathan Smith (New Mark Commons) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:55:36 +0000

Farsta Court is thigh-high with snow; gonna be a while before they can dig me out!