How do you think the city of Lawrence handled the snowstorm? / LJWorld.com

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Asked at Massachusetts Street on February 22, 2013

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“It went very well. I live downtown. There was an army of workers. It was like a parade. ”

— Justine Koch, student, Lawrence

“ I think it went really well.”

— Jenica Nelson, teacher, Lawrence

“I think it was handled pretty well. It’s not easy. People don’t understand how difficult (clearing the streets) is. ”

— John Orzulak, student, Lawrence

“I was perfectly content to stay in my house all day. My street didn’t get plowed till late, but I live on Ohio and it’s a side street so I wasn’t expecting it to.”

— Matt Primovic, student, Overland Park

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scott_webb 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Pre-treatment was a good idea, but then they dropped the ball after the snow hit. They've put hundreds of man hours into cleaning up the piles down town where the streets are already cleared. That should have been done only after all the streets have been cleared. It's Saturday and they haven't touched any of the neighborhood streets around me. If they eventually plow my street, there will be a pile of ice and packed snow chunks in front of my drive. I'll have to use a heavier metal round-tip shovel or a grain scoop to move those chunks. A real lack of leadership or experience managing snow removal. Hopefully, it will be addressed.

Joe Hyde 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Two problems with leaving the downtown street-center piles intact:

1) Those huge snow piles quickly solidify into a rock-hard mass that necessitates the use of even heavier machinery to remove, and;

2) Should there be a warming spell following the storm, the snow piles are a source of meltwater that refreezes on the streets overnight, creating skating rink conditions the length of downtown Lawrence for drivers and pedestrians.

It's safer for more members of the public and for employees and owners of downtown businesses if the city crew pushes, loads and removes as much of downtown's snowmass as they can in one comprehensive job.

And just because team effort was expended to clear downtown, that doesn't mean the city crews were neglecting the town's major traffic arteries. They weren't. They never have. They gotta do the big routes first, else there's no point in clearing the side streets.

hitme 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Joe, 1) They just need to learn to prioritize and you can remove the piles AFTER to clear all the streets. It's just that simple.

2) They're using front-end loaders to remove the piles, what bigger equipment would they upgrade to?

3) Conversely, when they wait two or three days to plow our streets then pile a "rock-hard mass that necessitates the use of even heavier machinery to remove" in front of my driveway, I really appreciate it. It's insult to injury; we've had NO snow removal during the worst of it and then a pile that has to be removed before driving over it. What equipment should homeowners upgrade to? As someone mentioned in another column, a standard snow shovel doesn't fare well against a two-foot pile of ice chunks frozen together.

The pile down town have been there every year and I've never seen them to create the ice rink hazards that you mention. No, the city blew this one.

otto 2 months, 3 weeks ago

They didn't go to any extra effort to clear snow around the businesses not downtown.

kenny_powers 2 months, 3 weeks ago

My mother is 86 years-old. She paid some kid to shovel her driveway and her walk Then, the city blocks her in again with their man-made mountain of ice in front of her drive. She calls me and asks if it is OK to drive over it. I was screaming at her, "NO, IT'S NOT OK" cause she can't afford hearing aids that she needs...and I probably go a bad connection here in Hawaii, where I like to spend the off-season. She also can't afford a new muffler if she rips that off on the ice mountain. What's up with this unnecessary craziness? My mom is on a pretty tight budget and can't afford these extra bills. It's a sad day when she has to choose between food on the table and paying to clean up the city's mess.