dianaschnuth

Dear Commissioner Welch:

I live on a residential street — on a dead-end street, in fact, in the last house on the street. Understandably, ours is not one of the first streets to be cleared of snow. In fact, the main streets are often cleared by the city days or weeks before our neighborhood streets are finally clear (generally due to a natural melt-off, rather than any city intervention). When our neighborhood does get plowed and salted, very rarely do any of the trucks clear our end of the street.

While I do understand that supplies and manpower are limited, especially in this time of economic hardship, and I also understand that Phase IV roadways have the lowest priority, I cannot help but feel slighted. After all, my husband and I do pay city taxes, just like residents of the more trafficked streets; part of the service we expect in return is that of safe access to our home.

Thanks to the ice storm we experienced approximately 36 hours ago, our neighborhood streets are several inches thick in solid ice. I will be pleasantly surprised if city trucks come through and clear our streets before Mother Nature does the job herself, as temperatures are expected to rise well above freezing in the days ahead.

While I don’t truthfully expect any change in the response time of the city anytime soon, I at least wanted to make my displeasure known. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Diana M. Schnuth