[RP TownTalk] snow update from County CM Dernoga

Wed Feb 10 17:19:53 UTC 2010

I thought some may be interested in this snow update from our County
councilman to the north, Tom Dernoga regarding county snow removal.

If you haven't been watching TV, Montgomery County and State of MD (and
others) have ceased plowing because road conditions are too dangerous.
 Please know that our town crews will be doing all they can to restore roads
to service, but they will have to stop plowing if conditions are dangerous
or visibility is poor.

Alice Ewen

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: tedzones <tedzones at verizon.net>
Date: Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 9:32 AM
Subject: [GreaterLaurelBeltsvilleDemClub] Latest update from Tom Dernoga -
9:15am Wed Feb 10
To: GreaterLaurelBeltsvilleDemClub at yahoogroups.com

*9:15 am Wed Feb 10th*

Again, my staff and I are monitoring phone calls to the office (301)
952-3887 and emails that we receive. We are forwarding concerns directly to
the personnel supervising the snow removal teams. I am getting these emails
on my Blackberry - your message is being read and dealt with.

I will be trying to get a new status report this morning. At this moment, i
do not have new information. Yesterday, the focus was to finish getting to
ALL residential streets, including continuing that effort during the early
parts of the new storm. Unfortunately, that means making streets "passable"
not clear. That has just been the reality of the magnitude of this storm. I
have personally checked on many of the residential streets that people have
complained about, and I have gotten equipment out there by working with the
DPWT leadership. Nonetheless, many of these streets that are "passable"
result in cars getting stuck.

I have been out on surveys the past two evenings, and it is amazing to see
main State and County roads in as poor shape as they are. Contrary to many
complaints I/we have received, this is not an indication of incompetence or
mismanagement. The magnitude of the weekend storm was unlike anything seen
before and "normal" operations (by normal, I mean every person and every
piece of equipment working around the clock doing normal plowing). There
have been many reasons that "normal" doesn't work. The biggest impediment is
people trying to drive the roads and getting stuck, which hinders plow
operations. The next biggest impediment has been plows getting stuck in the
original deep snow. Much of the smaller equipment intended for basic plowing
on smaller neighborhood streets cannot plow 28" inches of snow. Thus, it has
required teams of 2-3 pieces of equipment to work in tandem - limiting the
number of places that can be reached at one time. Further, the constant wear
and tear in harsh conditions has led to numerous instances of equipment
failure. Smaller failures have equipment taken back to the garage to get the
pieces back out quickly.

To complicate matters, early in the storm, plows had to be diverted from
regular clearing operations to get the power companies to outage areas
(those big trucks of theirs could not negotiate 28" of snow and it was
necessary to send plows with them). The same diversion occurred for the many
EMS calls to clear paths for fire trucks and ambulances. Last, there have
been trees down and cars abandoned in the middle of neighborhood streets so
that plows could not get further back in neighborhoods. So, for all of the
complaints.... I don't mind fielding the calls and emails, but it is
important to understand that this was not just a big snow, this has
essentially been a natural disaster that has stretched every government in
the region to the limits.

*But, where are we now? *

I spent yesterday afternoon at the Snow District 1 Operations Center in
Glendale. In addition to seeing that many of your issues got attention, I
sat through the County conference call where all Operations Centers go over
their status and their challenges. It is very instructive to see what the
personnel are dealing with. As noted above, the goal was to keep as much
equipment finishing neighborhood streets as possible. Then, heavier
equipment was being pulled to get the Primary Roads cleared for this new
snow. Because of the efforts to get into every residential street, we hope
that after this storm ends, DPWT can get the Primaries cleared fairly
quickly and can get back into the residential streets to get the new snow.
By getting much of the original 28" cleared, the new 8-12" should be fairly
"manageable". I will follow up with new info when I have it.

I have tried to get plows to respond to all of your requests, including
those late yesterday afternoon where there were some isolated instances. If
you believe that you still haven't seen a plow, email me right back and I
will try to get someone out there - note that in a number of cases where
residents have worked together to clear enough to get out and then driven
4-wheel drives on it, the plow drivers come and take a look and believe that
an earlier crew took care of you. It can be real hard to tell the
difference. Let me know and I will try to get someone on it.

*Monday night*, I toured West Laurel where I live (got stuck real bad which
never happens, and told me i might be more of a hindrance than a help). Then
i headed through the City of Laurel (good work) over to Cherry Lane (a
disgrace - I literally called for heavy equipment (it now looks great)),
down to Snow Hill Manor (really needed work), through Montpelier (pretty
good, but Snowden Loop and and Montpelier Forest were left undone), down
Muirkirk (generally in great shape) to Montpelier Hills. I found the plow
driver for the South Laurel sector and confirmed that he was going to get to
Snowden & Montpelier Woods, Woodbridge and other communities. I then went
down Muirkirk to Ammendale and up Old Gunpowder. Pretty good on those Roads.
NOTE: I couldn't get out until Monday either (I was hunkered down like
everyone).

*Tuesday night*, after the Operations Center, I came up Riggs Rd to White
Oak/Buck Lodge (really needed more work), and through Adelphi/Hillandale
Gardens (had seen plows, but really needed work). Small plows were in there
and I called in to have them go back to White Oak/Buck Lodge when they
finished. I avoided getting stuck (barely) but I knew that conditions were
really deteriorating and that I should get off the roads before I became an
impediment. I headed back up Powder Mill (pretty good) to Ammendale and down
to Virginia Manor (need to check access to the hospital from Beltsville). We
had sent crews out there earlier, but with the traffic on Virginia Manor, it
made it hard on the crews. Generally, it was in decent shape up to the
Gazette printing plant, but real chancy from there to Van Dusen. I went down
to Mayfair (really bad, so I called again for that to be done). Finally, I
knew I needed to check out Contee and Cherry Lane, both of which had been so
bad. Contee was really horrible from Victoria Falls to Route 1 (I didn't
venture further east because of what I had heard). I went up Route 1 to
Cherry Lane and it was in great shape - there was a huge piece of equipment
working on it (as I had requested) and it had done a great job. The good
news was that it was almost done and then heading to Contee. Heading for
home, I cut down Sweitzer to Bounds and found that the complaints about
Bounds were well founded. I located small plows over on Kent that had done a
great job from Bond Mill to Kent, so I asked to have them redirected back to
Bounds.

*Beltsville/Calverton* - I didn't get the chance for a personal inspection
(yet - I will be there next), but I have been in direct communication with
many residents via phone and email, so I have been trying to get attention
out there. I know in Beltsville we had issues on the streets off of
Montgomery (most of that got addressed, but I expect there are a few missed
streets), and I know it took forever to get to Ammendale/Sequoia over in
North Creek. Hopefully, they got addressed, but let me know and I will be in
touch with the Snow Operations Center.

*TODAY*

For today, be prepared for power outages. Blizzard conditions with high
winds are forecast today. Call immediately if your power goes out. It is
important for everyone to call so that they see the magnitude and breadth of
the outage - it isn't always obvious to them without all of the calls.

If you are serviced by *BG&E*, call* 1-877-778-2222.* For *PEPCO*, call *
1-877-737-2662.*

Please call my office at (301) 952-3887 to let us know so we can help
monitor with BGE/PEPCO.

Please stay off the roads today - it could hinder clean up operations.

NOTE: Following are the general guidelines for snow removal - it may be
slower because of the previous storm. Please have reasonable expectation. We
are looking at about 12" today with blizzard conditions through 7pm. So,
START counting hours from 7pm tonight and you will have an idea of what to
expect.

Primary Roads    4 - 8 inches    Bare Pavement within 12 hours

Residential Streets    4 - 8 inches    Passable within 24-36 hours

Primary Roads    8 - 12 inches    Bare Pavement within 24 hours

Residential Streets    8 - 12 inches    Passable within 36 - 48 hours

Primary Roads    12 - 18 inches    Bare Pavement within 24 - 36 hours

Residential Streets    12 - 18 inches    Passable within 48 - 72 hours

• Move and keep vehicles off snow emergency routes

• Park in driveways or other off-road locations wherever possible

• Park only on the EVEN-NUMBERED sides of streets

(This is very important in order to allow plows to clear residential
roadways. Plows cannot maneuver around vehicles to clear roadways.  One side
of the roadway must clear of vehicles for plow drivers to effectively
perform snow and ice removal services.)

Call or email with updates from your community, but it will be likely 36-48
hours to get to passable in most locations - Meaning Friday.

*Tom Dernoga, Chair*

Prince George's County Council (District 1)

(301) 952-3887

*** If MY power goes out, I will lose internet access so updates and replies
will cease for awhile.

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-- 
Alice C. Ewen
Councilwoman, Ward 1
Town of Riverdale Park MD
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