Groups: City needs better plow plan

Many motorists who drove Omaha’s neighborhood streets this winter experienced a frozen obstacle course of parked cars and piled snow.

Although the snow is melting, the frustrations haven’t faded among residents who grew tired of navigating what essentially became one-lane streets on many blocks, particularly on the city’s eastern side.

Neighborhood groups say they realize that this was an extreme winter, one of the worst on record, and that the city made a good effort considering its tight budget.

But the city could have done better, neighborhood leaders say, and should plan improvements for the future so driving residential streets doesn’t feel like sliding through a frozen canyon.

“It was a mess,” said Kris Porter, vice president of the Field Club Homeowners League.

Ron Gerard, a spokesman for Mayor Jim Suttle, said the city will review the snow removal effort and have a plan for next winter by July 1.

He said possible changes include expanding the use of private contractors to clear neighborhood streets, and finding a workable way to get cars off side streets to make it easier to clear curb to curb.

This winter the city didn’t plow to the curb even in some neighborhoods where parked cars weren’t a problem.

Anne McGargill, a member of the Candlewood Homeowners Association Board, said several streets in her neighborhood near 120th and Blondo Streets remained one-lane for weeks. Part of the problem was that crews clearing private lots and driveways pushed snow into the streets.

But after the snow from two major storms in December accumulated, city crews did not clear it away, even though she called the city about it, she said.

The snow would have been easier to plow before it hardened during January’s deep-freeze into frozen mounds in her neighborhood and elsewhere.

Gerard said the city’s goal is always to clear curb to curb.

That was difficult to accomplish this winter because of the large amount of snow, he said. In a normal winter, city crews would try to clear to the curb during their first pass through a neighborhood, he said.

Crews this winter had to focus on keeping at least a lane open, he said. Plus, crews had to fill potholes that began rattling drivers in January.

“I would say, given the extreme winter, we did as well as we could,” Gerard said.

Bob Welk, president of the Dundee Memorial Park Association, said he realizes that crews couldn’t clear to the curb during the storms or even days after. But crews could have returned even a week later and made the streets easier to navigate.

“You’ve got to move the snow,’’ he said.

Gerard said returning to all neighborhoods to clear to the curb would have become expensive and time-consuming, considering the city was still trying to widen major streets and improve visibility at intersections.

The cleanup from the pair of December storms, for example, put the city $1.6 million over its 2009 snow removal budget, he said.

In the eastern side of the city, parked cars make plowing difficult, he said. Many homes have one-car garages, and apartment buildings don’t always have off-street parking.

Katelin Cook, who lives near 49th Street and Capitol Avenue in Dundee, said some streets in her neighborhood became one-lane because they were clogged with cars and snow.

“It was awful,” she said.

Sometimes she’d have to pull into a driveway or back up to let another car pass.

A city ordinance allows the city to prohibit parking on specified residential streets for snow plowing.

But Gerard said it’s unlikely the city would ever carry out a residential ban because it would be tough to enforce and impractical, given the lack of off-street parking.

Six years ago the city imposed a voluntary parking ban on residential streets — people only had to move their car if they wanted to. People were asked to park on the side of the street with even-numbered addresses one day, and on the side with odd numbers the next.

Scott McIntyre, Omaha’s street maintenance engineer, said compliance was spotty.

Though city officials say they’re willing to look again at a voluntary ban, Gerard said a more workable plan would be one similar to what the Hanscom Park Neighborhood Association arranged in January.

Mike Battershell, president of the association, said volunteers went door to door asking people to have their cars off the streets in a 16-block area on a designated Saturday. The association also got the word out through flyers, its Web site and Facebook.

Compliance was good, he said. People who normally parked on the street used neighbors’ driveways or parked on a street that wasn’t being cleared that day. During a six-hour period, city plows were able to clear many of the streets curb to curb, Battershell said.

Gerard said that plan was effective because the neighborhood was supportive.

He said expanding the use of private contractors is another way the city could clear more residential streets quickly and more completely next winter.

This winter, the city assigned snow removal companies to clear snow in specified residential areas. Gerard said the contractors made a difference in getting side streets cleared.

Michael Welsh agrees. He lives in a neighborhood near 68th and Dodge Streets that got help from private contractors. He said there’s no doubt he would have liked his street cleared even faster and wider, but overall the city did a decent job.

“I’d give them a passing grade,’’ he said.

Contact the writer:

444-1122, michael.oconnor@owh.com

« Metro/Region

Share