Clearing roads in winter requires snowphistication
With record-setting snows this winter (and the previous two), the Associated Press asks: "So, which city is best at cleaning up after the Big One?" Citing Buffalo, NY's massive snowfalls and Chicago's "legendary" snowfighting operation, the AP reporting team concludes that local conditions require local professional response: in a word "snowphistication." Good point.
Mayors know that failure to remove it (snow and ice) can cost them their jobs.
Every mayor knows the story of Chicago's Michael Bilandic , the incumbent who lost in the 1979 Democratic primary after the city failed to clear streets fast enough after a storm. These days, voters embrace Mayor Richard M. Daley in part because the crews at Streets and Sanitation keeps the city in business every winter: The city's public schools haven't had a "snow day" in more than a decade.
"I got more calls from mayors during snow storms than at any other time," said Tom Eggum , a retired public works director in St. Paul. "It's probably because of what happened in Chicago."
Roadway users and the Roadway Safety Foundation emphasize the importance of quality snowfighting.
The consequences of failing to clear that snow can be deadly. Each year, more than 1,300 people are killed and more than 116,000 injured in vehicle crashes on snowy, slushy or icy pavement, according to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration . A storm that shuts down roads also closes the door of business, costing communities hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales taxes and revenue from income taxes.
"The benefits of being better prepared far outweigh the costs — because it costs so much when the Big One does hit," said Greg Cohen , executive director of the Roadway Safety Foundation , whose own street in Washington was still unplowed several days after the storms hit.