The Manager's report back on achieving greater levels of snow clearing, Awaiting Report Item Number 18-07 regarding changing snow removal exemptions and Awaiting Report Item Number 18-117, regarding using the best salt substitutes as de-icers

Date: November 5th, 2018

Re: AR 18-4: Report on exploring mechanisms for achieving greater levels of snow clearing by the city and increase the public response during major snow events or heavy snow winters. AR-18-7: Report on the possibility of changing the snow removal exemption to include two and three-family houses.

AR-18-117: Report on using the best available salt substitutes as de-icers where salt may be damaging trees, especially in Linear Park.

Summary.

The Department of Public Works offers the following in response to the above council orders: Over the last decade + the Department of Public Works has worked closely with other city departments, as well as community groups and commissions, to evaluate how to continue to expand and improve our snow operations across the city.

The Department of Public Works, together with the Water Department, the Traffic Department and the Human Services Department have continued to broaden operations to address more effective snow management and achieve greater levels of snow clearance as it relates to salting, plowing, snow removal and indeed compliance with City ordinances as they relate to sidewalk snow clearance.

This effort has been undertaken for a variety of reasons, primary among them has been the continued concerns about pedestrian access across the city, most particularly for persons with disabilities and their ability to access various public transportation options. Finally, over the last number of years there has been an increased demand for clearing bicycle facilities immediately after snow events so that community members can continue to cycle to their various destinations.

All of this work is done in coordination with our Emergency Services Departments (Police, Fire and Emergency Communications) to ensure they can be responsive to emergency situations and that we can achieve compliance with snow emergency declarations and access needs throughout the community during and after a storm.

The Department of Public Works has been using new software and hardware technology to both improve the efficiency of our snow personnel call-in process as well as improving the efficiency of our equipment deployment and tracking.

While smarter deployment of snow clearing resources will greatly assist our snow clearance operations, there exist challenges that offset this benefit, to include a more challenging snow contractor marketplace, the long-term challenges about locating snow dumping locations and the greater probability of more extreme events because of climate change.

Finally, the City is also piloting several alternative deicing products this winter as well as introducing a three-day training by the University of Massachusetts for all managers and supervisors to ensure that our work is done efficiently and that the environmental impact associated with our salting and de-icing operations is controlled and minimized.

Pedestrian Access. With regard to pedestrian access across the City and the request that the City require greater enforcement of the snow ordinance specific to sidewalk clearance, we offer the following; By city ordinance property owners are required to remove snow from sidewalks next to their properties within 12 hours of snow stopping during the daytime, and before 1 PM when the snow has fallen during the night. Ice on sidewalks needs to be addressed by property owners within 6 hours of its formation.

The City uses both Parking Control Officers and Public Works compliance officers to check streets and issues tickets when property owners fail to comply with the ordinance requirements. Ticket numbers issued vary widely year to year depending on the number of snow, ice and salting events that occur throughout a given year and the various natures of each.

DPW and the Traffic Department will further explore options to increase the level of enforcement during this winter, but it should be recognized that enforcement numbers in and of themselves are not an accurate representation of either the extent of inaccessible sidewalks across the city or indeed the level of effort or success associated with inspectors and parking control officers work on this issue in any given year[NJ1].

In response to the council order request that city staff and contractors’ clear major sidewalk/ crosswalks access points after snow events, it is important to note that, in fact, City forces and City contractors address much of this work today as part of a program that provides snow clearance across twenty-three miles of sidewalk throughout the city.

This effort reaches far beyond that which is required by ordinance and seeks to address, in effective ways the impact snow storms have on the elderly and disabled as they make their way around the city after snow storms. This work has evolved and expanded significantly over the last decade.

During that period, we have looked closely at access beyond that associated with purely public buildings and city property but have also looked at public transportation locations to include MBTA subway stops and bus stops and pedestrian ramps and crosswalks adjacent to such, as well as other locations of high pedestrian activity such as, elderly housing. This work is done by hand crews, walk behind snow blowers and sit-on sidewalk plows and salting equipment.

Background to winter storm response Storm forecasting. The City has contracted with two metrological companies who provide detailed temporal and spatial forecasts for the city throughout the year. These forecasts play an important role in determining the scale and timing of the City’s response to projected snow events, be it regarding crew sizes and starting times, the numbers and types of contracting equipment that will be utilized and whether a snow emergency will be called and whether schools will be closed.

Members of the Department of Public Works Department are in contact with these services on a continuous basis before, during and after snow storms so that our response is properly calibrated to the nature of the storm. While forecasting has become much more accurate in the last decade, there continue to be occasions when forecasts are wrong and where urgent “call-outs” are necessary so that we can address dangerous street and sidewalk conditions promptly.

Example of forecasts provided to the City by Hometown Forecast Service 12/25/17. The City received 4-6 inches of snow on this date.

Snow plowing and removal. During major snow storms, the City will maximize the number of staff it deploys to manage the storm. The Department of Public Works together with the Water Department and the Traffic Department will deploy between 50 and 70 snow plowing pieces of equipment during the event and will have in attendance a full crew of mechanics, supervisors and management staff to assist in ensuring the operation runs smoothly.