Citizens speak out on road conditions after recent storm

March 23, 2017 | G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.com



SPRINGFIELD – Jynai McDonald has a 7-year-old son and when he doesn’t do his homework correctly she instructs him to do it again. She told the City Council Maintenance and Development Committee at a public hearing the same reaction should apply to the Department of Public Works (DPW) and the plowing of city streets.

McDonald was one of dozens of people who attended and spoke at the meeting on March 20. Despite the questions and concerns raised by residents, DPW head Chris Cignoli maintained that when the plowing was completed the main arties in the city were in “excellent condition,” while the side roads were “in very, very good condition.”

Committee Chair Kateri Walsh called the meeting “the natural flow” of government. “People are concerned. They reached out to city councilors and we reach out to the department,” she said. Walsh was joined by committee members Bud Williams and Adam Gomez.

Williams has called for an audit of city vehicles used for snow clearing.

Before the meeting, a compilation of comments about the street conditions from Facebook was passed out. Some of the comments included, “Where Allen crosses into Sumner there is still most of the right lane buried. My street is still barely passable with cars parking on only one side. If it hadn’t been for warm weather people would still be getting stuck.”

Another comment was, “Springfield is a disaster. The roads are horrible and let’s add in all of the people walking in the middle of the street. Someone is going to get hurt seriously.”

Cignoli said the city hired 174 contractors to plow the streets. The contractors had to have at least a three-quarter ton truck to qualify. The owners of larger trucks don’t want to work in the city, he said, because they can’t get down streets due to parked cars.

The city is divided into 20 plowing districts and there were 162 pieces of equipment – both city-owned and contractor – working this storm. The city has 1,100 miles of road to be clear, much more than any other city or town in the region, Cignoli added.

Each district has an inspector who is to determine if that district has be adequately cleared of snow, Cignoli explained. These inspectors, he added, are city employees from the DPW and other departments.

Cignoli said the plow effort was hampered by how some people cleared their property and charged the Boys and Girls Club on Acorn Street had plowed their entire parking lot into the street and snow-blowed their sidewalks into the street.

Resident Ellen Moorhouse suggested the city should review what it requires for snow removal equipment, increase ticketing and fines and determine the best ways to get out information about snow removal and parking.

Deborah Huemer suggested the city increase the fee for violation of the parking ban.

Minnie Galloway noted her taxes have increased $300. “What am I playing taxes for?” she asked the councilors.

Phylis Gederon said she saw four snowplows drive by snow banks on streets that should have been moved. She wondered what are the repercussions for plow drivers who don’t do an adequate job.

Donna Carney, the director of the city’s 311 service, told the councilors the number of phone call inquiries and complaints was less than one would have expected. She explained to Williams, who asked if there was any follow-up made to the residents who called the service, just handles calls coming in. She suggested for greater ease of reporting that people install the 311 app for iPhone and Android phones, which is available online at https://www.springfield-ma.gov/cos/index.php?id=311-home.

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