Bangor crews battle to clear snow from sidewalks as subsequent storm looms
Crews have been clearing Bangor sidewalks after Monday’s storm dumped greater than a foot of snow on the area, however the public works division is aware of there’s no solution to get all of them finished earlier than the subsequent storm arrives.
If all 5 sidewalk plows are in operation, clearing Bangor’s 85 miles of sidewalks takes about 10 days, based on Bangor Public Works Director Aaron Huotari. If town receives six inches of snow or much less, cleanup takes a couple of week.
Again-to-back snowstorms give Bangor crews roughly two days to clear snow from the primary storm earlier than the second arrives, when the removing course of can take greater than per week. The race to clear areas for pedestrians is additional hindered by restricted gear that breaks down continuously.
“If we get 25 % of the sidewalks finished earlier than the subsequent storm, I’ll be shocked,” Huotari stated Tuesday. “We labored all by means of the storm, nevertheless it simply stored falling heavy till 6 p.m. final night time.”
Bangor sidewalk plow operators started clearing at 3 a.m. on Monday and labored till midday on Tuesday, Huotari stated. They then went dwelling to relaxation however deliberate to return to work at 11 p.m. Tuesday to work one other 16 hours.
“We do the most effective we will to get as a lot cleared as doable — that’s the one recreation plan we have now,” he stated.
Regardless of the lengthy hours, Huotari stated he is aware of it gained’t be sufficient to clear the snow from Monday’s storm earlier than the precipitation begins once more on Wednesday night time.
“We’re purported to have rain on Thursday, then it’ll get all the way down to 14 levels at night time and the whole lot goes to freeze strong,” he stated. “That makes the sidewalk machines actually battle to get by means of that snow.”
The plowing course of is usually sophisticated by obstacles and objects, comparable to tree branches and trash, hidden below snow on the sidewalks, Huotari stated. These objects get sucked into the machines and may take hours to dislodge or injury machines and put them out of service till they are often repaired.
“Final Friday, we plowed a two-mile stretch of sidewalks within the mall space by Chick-fil-a to Hogan Street and it took eight hours,” he stated.
Residents throwing snow from their driveways into the sidewalk and avenue additional slows crews down, Huotari stated.
The town breaks down which streets and sidewalks ought to get cleared first into two classes: precedence one and precedence two.
Downtown roads and areas round colleges are the primary to get cleared due to the upper variety of pedestrians who reside and work within the space.
“It kills me to see individuals strolling within the streets figuring out that’s a possibility for a vehicle-pedestrian accident.” Huotari stated. “If children are in a state of affairs the place their dad and mom aren’t dropping them off, which means they’re strolling to highschool and they should have a protected journey route.”
The town then turns its consideration to main arteries and “collector streets” that see extra foot and automobile site visitors, together with metropolis buses.
Lastly, crews work to clear outlying residential roads that see much less site visitors.
Although town is tasked with eradicating snow from sidewalks, except for the downtown district, Huotari stated he would really like residents to clear the portion of the sidewalks in entrance of their houses.
Within the metropolis’s downtown district, property house owners or tenants should clear snow off the sidewalk inside six hours after the precipitation ends. If the precipitation ends after 6:00 p.m., the snow and ice have to be eliminated earlier than 1:00 p.m. on the next day, based on metropolis guidelines.
“I wish to see residents assist [with sidewalks], however that’s not within the metropolis ordinance,” he stated. “We work with the foundations we’re given, and we try to get these sidewalks finished as quickly as we will.”
