<img src="http://digitaljournal.com/img/2/8/0/5/4/i/6/2/6/o/Image-4.jpg"" width="300" height="300"> As many of us who live in Richmond Virginia can tell you the response to the recent snow storm has seemed slow. Many neighborhoods had not yet seen a snow plow as of yesterday. Many streets remain covered in ice and snow creating dangerous driving conditions for local residents. In some cases residents have said that you can see an immediate difference in road conditions when crossing into the surrounding counties. In my own neighbor hood the snowplows made their first pass at around 10:30 pm last night. Church Hill resident Jonathan Friedman told channel 6 news:
"There's no evidence of road maintenance", a sentiment repeated by many Richmond residents.
Seeing snowplows driving on snow covered streets with their blades up, not removing the snow, has increased many residents’ frustrations. Just one example of this was when we saw snowplows driving down Orcutt lane, several hours later we discovered that the street had not been plowed. City Chief Administrative Officer Byron Marshall responded to these complaints telling channel 12:
"If they're turning around, coming from a break or going to get sand or on somebody else's route, generally they don't have to have their blades down. I think Mike would like them to always have their blades down and we will work on that."
Mayor Dwight C. Jones responded to the criticism by announcing a new plan for future snow removal and pointing out some of the reasons for the slow response.In 2007 under then-Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, the city sold off some of its equipment including 36 vehicles that would have been used to help with snow removal. The vehicles sold were among the newer models owned by the city, leaving them with approximately 50 older models. The remaining vehicles routinely had mechanical failures, as many as 20 inoperative at one point during the snow removal. Street parking was also blamed for slowing the snow removal; parked vehicles along Richmond streets hampered the snow removal efforts and in some cases doubled the time it takes to complete a route. The new plan for snow removal includes starting removal operation earlier, using private contractors, buying four highway plows, 12 tailgate spreaders and four reversible plows. The city has order 23 garbage trucks; they will now revise the order to equip them with snow removal capability. The city also plans to end the practice of buying cars for city inspectors and purchase pickup trucks that can be used for snow removal when needed. They are also considering designated snow routes that would require residents to remove their vehicles during a storm to allow for faster cleanup. With more snow possible this weekend Mayor Jones says the new plans will go into effect immediately. Only hours before the mayors comments Richmond City Hall was damaged when heavy snow slid from the roof and crashed through the glass panels below.
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