To the editor:

Last year, the city responded quickly and efficiently to the Thanksgiving Day snow that blanked steeply sloped streets in West Lawrence. In fact, the entire city’s roadways were cleared in a timely manner.

This year there appears to be a new process, which was ineffective and very delinquent.

The first attempt by the city to address our neighborhood’s snow condition occurred when a city truck was spreading “something” on streets still covered with snow. That action did absolutely nothing to help conditions. Cars were still sliding backward down hills in the snow. It was not until the following day that snow removal began.

It is interesting that Chuck Soules, director of public works, stated that in 2000 the city was able to conduct snow removal on 285 miles of roadway in 10 hours. However, with the addition of 34 new miles of roadway, the city requires an additional six hours of work to clear streets. Perhaps someone needs to review the effectiveness of the public works department’s snow removal plan or check Mr. Soules’ math.

Steve Turner,

Lawrence