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The snow storm brought some 18" of snow to the greater Monona area and even made the news in the UK and the NYT: Blizzard Paralyzes Much of Midwest. (I tried to find an online version of the map from the paper edition of the WSJ, but failed. Am I the only one who can never find anything on the new Madison.com?).
Having driven around Monona and across Madison, I can say that the storm also demonstrated that Monona does a better job of clearing its streets than Madison - much better. Let's hear it for the Monona Public Works crews (and don't forget the Monona police, fire and EMS folks who are also working long hours in very difficult circumstances).
But, here's my storm story: My kids came in from trying to shovel out the wall of snow at the bottom of the driveway and said "the guy up the street said he was coming back with his snowblower." A few minutes later here came the neighborhood crew with shovels and snowblower to finish off the snow. So I joined them - four of us watched the other guy run the snowblower - that's the way to shovel snow!
Turned out they had already been up and down the block helping clear all the driveways. Kudos to Dave and Jake Mairet, Bob Gonzalez, and Shea McCue.
Got a snow story to share?
How about the jerk who offered to help clear the five foot wall of snow at the end of my driveway and then wanted $50?
ReplyDeleteOuch. That's not quite as heart-warming as my story.
ReplyDeleteI took pictures and uploaded them here:
ReplyDeletehttp://kumicho.zenfolio.com/winter_2009
Enjoy!
Sorry- but madison plows were out all night - most streets were open much earlier than in Monona, where we couldn't get out until the middle of the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the new madison.com, its so hard to find things I have stopped using it.
OK, I was not out driving around during the storm.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried driving in Madison since the storm? Every Madison street I've been on is ice-packed, slippery, and bumpy. The only road in Monona comparably bad is lower Winnequah between Maywood and Bridge (which BTW, for you conspiracy theorists is where the mayor and council president live).
The county is responsible for plowing Broadway and Monona Drive.
Does anyone else think that the County did a poor job on both Broadway and Monona Drive? About 2:00 pm on Wednesday my street was done, but Monona Drive didn't look like it had been touched since midnight.
ReplyDeleteWere they hoping that traffic would melt the snow, or is Monona a lower priorty, or is it just me?
I think the county focuses on the rural county highways first and then the urban ones.
ReplyDeleteThe anture of this snow (lots of wet heavy stuff) followed by the drop in temps meant there was a small window to get roads cleared before it got hardpacked.
And roads with higher traffic volumes had probably already had the snow packed into ice by the time the plows arrived.
I would concur that Monona did a great job clearing the streets. I was very impressed. Our street was plowed by the time I dragged myself out of bed.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the county did a cruddy job on Monona Drive and Broadway. They are absolutely terrible.
Madison streets are SCARY. My husband and I were driving downtown last night do meet up with people...and I literally shut my eyes the whole way because I was afraid to look! :)
I hear Sunday it could be 30ish. Let's hope that it melts some of the stuff away.
"Madison streets are SCARY. My husband and I were driving downtown last night do meet up with people...and I literally shut my eyes the whole way because I was afraid to look!"
ReplyDeleteI do hope your husband was driving.
ha! Yes, he was. :)
ReplyDelete"Every Madison street I've been on is ice-packed, slippery, and bumpy"
ReplyDeleteThis describes every street in Monona. And what's the excuse now? While madison plows are out now scrapping the thoroughfares down to the pavement, Monona is content to let the slop sit until it freezes solid again.
yes...the streets are in Madison and the Monona ones were ignored this weekend. I dread when they freeze up tomorrow. They missed a golden opportunity to get the streets cleaned up. Very annoying.
ReplyDeleteTo the most recent Anon - I'm not sure what streets you're on, but when I was driving today the streets were fine. I was in downtown Madison on Friday, and the streets were FAR worse than anywhere I'd been in Monona. I can't imagine that the streets here deteriorated in the past 48 hours.
ReplyDeleteMonday morning. Monona roads are full of snow,slush, ice, and slop. County and Madison roads are in far better condition. Why didn't the plows come in Sunday to clear the roads? Other city and county departments came in to clear their roads.
ReplyDeleteIt is like this every year. Maybe it is time to fire the boss down there.
Midmoor Road was awful through this morning (Monday). Last evening as I was waiting at the stop sign on Midmoor at Nichols, I saw a car lose control going around that corner onto Midmoor. Not walkable for pedestrians either.
ReplyDeleteBut I did see plows out this morning and we can't have it both ways, folks. I am guessing that public works people get paid extra to work on the weekend? Are we willing to pay the extra taxes for the weekend work or take money away from something like the library or park maintenance to fund this? Or maybe we can just chill out and drive a little slower? None of the roads the Monona PW crew plows are really main arteries. So what if it takes you a couple of extra minutes to reach Monona Drive or Broadway?
You are correct. The PW crew gets OT pay on weekends. The decision was made to wait until today to resume plowing.
ReplyDeleteAfter driving around a bit this morning, I agree there were a few more streets that still had snow than I had seen. I suspect they will be in better shape by the end of the day (and before the temp nose dives).
I wondered if they were holding out as to not pay OT. All is well that ends well. :) They were at my house by 10 am and the roads are better.
ReplyDelete