ABOVE: snow was quickly cleared from Locust @ 16th
The poll question this week is: How good of a job does the City of St. Louis do at snow removal? The poll is located in the upper right corner of the blog.
I think they do an adequate job on the streets – great in some places, could be better in others – but I'm really disappointed by the lack of attention to the public sidewalks, by both the government and by private property owners. I know we live in an autocentric community, but there's no reason to focus only on streets and parking lots, exclusively!
There should be special fund set up within the Bike St. Louis program for their designated routes. Leaving it to the streets people just leaves the snow from the rest of the road piled up in the bike lanes.
They do what they can with the money they don't have. Although I did notice that Gustine near Hartford, from Arsenal to Gravois, was cleeeeean as a whistle on the morning the snow stopped. I drove my wife (who works in the West End) to work that morning, and came home on Gustine from Juniata, via Roger. It seems that Jennifer Florida lives just off of Gustine in that area. My wife did a search for me to confirm my suspicions. Don't really care, one way or the other, that special treatment was accorded this street, but it would have been nice if Tower Grove Ave. (a much busier N-S street) from Magnolia north had been plowed to the same standards.
It all comes down to willingness to pay. It would be great if the City took care of side-streets. But how much is that worth to the average St. Louisan?
Also, it is the responsibility of a property owner to clear the sidewalk in front of their property. However, does the City have the will or the manpower to actually enforce the ordinance?
I live in a hilly part – probably the hilliest part – of South City, and have had some problems – along with the mail truck – making some of the steepest streets in an automobile. Otherwise, I've become really skilled at driving on snow-ice.
A special fund? Get more money that they don't have? It all sounds good but even if they had the money it all comes down to one thing. Where to go with it. The REAL reason side streets in the city don't get plowed is because there's no place to go with it. The streets are full of parked cars whose owners would of course freak out if a plow went by and plowed them in. Anyone who lives in the city and expects side streets to be plowed, or even a lot of heavier traveled streets, doesn't know how to live in the city. It's probably those same people that don't shovel the walks in front of their homes.
As someone who lives on a dead end, shadowy street in South City that will NEVER get plowed (and it takes snow weeks to finally melt away), I will still say that all things considered, I think they do a great job. You can't and shouldn't expect every little street to get plowed. I have some family who lives in a subdivision in fenton and every. single. street gets plowed as SOON as it snows. It's kind of baffling because it makes me wonder gosh, is this TRULY necessary? Does everything with asphalt NEED to be snowed? I'm just wondering the total cost for that type of thing. As long as the major roads are clear, I'm happy. I mean even with a foot(ish) of snow, like we had last week, it's still COMPLETELY possible to drive on unplowed streets, and as far as I'm concerned if they have very little traffic then it's a waste to plow them. We need to focus on main roads when it comes to plowing because that's where the accidents happen. We need to focus on places of congestion because sometimes the biggest concern about wintery weather is NOT the actual snow but the other people driving around in it. We had a major snow last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, and by Thursday night, I was driving down a totally clear Jefferson and a totally clear Arsenal. And the next day, the main roads were already DRY, while the grass had a foot of snow on it! That's a damn great job if you ask me.
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I think they do an adequate job on the streets – great in some places, could be better in others – but I'm really disappointed by the lack of attention to the public sidewalks, by both the government and by private property owners. I know we live in an autocentric community, but there's no reason to focus only on streets and parking lots, exclusively!
There should be special fund set up within the Bike St. Louis program for their designated routes. Leaving it to the streets people just leaves the snow from the rest of the road piled up in the bike lanes.
They do what they can with the money they don't have. Although I did notice that Gustine near Hartford, from Arsenal to Gravois, was cleeeeean as a whistle on the morning the snow stopped. I drove my wife (who works in the West End) to work that morning, and came home on Gustine from Juniata, via Roger. It seems that Jennifer Florida lives just off of Gustine in that area. My wife did a search for me to confirm my suspicions. Don't really care, one way or the other, that special treatment was accorded this street, but it would have been nice if Tower Grove Ave. (a much busier N-S street) from Magnolia north had been plowed to the same standards.
It all comes down to willingness to pay. It would be great if the City took care of side-streets. But how much is that worth to the average St. Louisan?
Also, it is the responsibility of a property owner to clear the sidewalk in front of their property. However, does the City have the will or the manpower to actually enforce the ordinance?
I live in a hilly part – probably the hilliest part – of South City, and have had some problems – along with the mail truck – making some of the steepest streets in an automobile. Otherwise, I've become really skilled at driving on snow-ice.
A special fund? Get more money that they don't have? It all sounds good but even if they had the money it all comes down to one thing. Where to go with it. The REAL reason side streets in the city don't get plowed is because there's no place to go with it. The streets are full of parked cars whose owners would of course freak out if a plow went by and plowed them in. Anyone who lives in the city and expects side streets to be plowed, or even a lot of heavier traveled streets, doesn't know how to live in the city. It's probably those same people that don't shovel the walks in front of their homes.
As someone who lives on a dead end, shadowy street in South City that will NEVER get plowed (and it takes snow weeks to finally melt away), I will still say that all things considered, I think they do a great job. You can't and shouldn't expect every little street to get plowed. I have some family who lives in a subdivision in fenton and every. single. street gets plowed as SOON as it snows. It's kind of baffling because it makes me wonder gosh, is this TRULY necessary? Does everything with asphalt NEED to be snowed? I'm just wondering the total cost for that type of thing. As long as the major roads are clear, I'm happy. I mean even with a foot(ish) of snow, like we had last week, it's still COMPLETELY possible to drive on unplowed streets, and as far as I'm concerned if they have very little traffic then it's a waste to plow them. We need to focus on main roads when it comes to plowing because that's where the accidents happen. We need to focus on places of congestion because sometimes the biggest concern about wintery weather is NOT the actual snow but the other people driving around in it. We had a major snow last Wednesday night/Thursday morning, and by Thursday night, I was driving down a totally clear Jefferson and a totally clear Arsenal. And the next day, the main roads were already DRY, while the grass had a foot of snow on it! That's a damn great job if you ask me.