‘Not acceptable’: Northwest DC residents frustrated it took days to plow their street
As last weekend’s snowstorm dumped several inches of snow and sleet onto D.C. streets, Susan Oakley watched as her Northwest neighborhood became covered.
A plow didn’t pass through the area, near Sibley Memorial Hospital on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, Oakley said. She and several neighbors called the city’s 311 hotline, hoping to get a response. She similarly messaged the area’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, trying to draw attention “to the fact that we hadn’t seen a plow in three days.”
By Friday morning, some pavement was visible for the first time, though certain areas remain covered in snow or slush.
Frustration across the city is mounting, as days after the storm, large blocks of what leaders described as “snowcrete” remain near crosswalks, sidewalks and parking spots.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the city has added contractors to help pick up and haul ice and snow, and the former RFK Stadium site and United Medical Center have been used as drop-off locations.
Several nearby streets, Oakley said, had a “first pass,” but hers didn’t. With schools closed, she had no plans to leave. When she finally left for a doctor’s appointment, she was surprised.
“There’s still a lot of work to do on the sidewalks,” Oakley said. “It is not safe even crossing at the crosswalks. Most of the lanes in our neighborhood are single lanes. There’s nowhere to park for street parking. There’s just still a lot of work that needs to be done. But I certainly think the sidewalks and the crosswalks have to be done. If you’re going to have kids going to school, that has to be safe.”
“I guess we all just think in this city, with what we pay in taxes and where we live, the resources should be a lot better,” added Jodi Yeager, who also lives near the hospital. “You see a lot of other cities who deal with so much more snow, and they all handle it with a lot more ease.”
At 4 a.m. Friday, Yeager said a plow came by her house, but “other than that, our calls and emails sort of were unanswered. We were just stuck in the ice and snow.”
A D.C. government truck surveyed the progress Friday afternoon. The last few days, Yeager said she called 311 and the non-emergency police line at least six times. She was nervous for her vulnerable neighbors.
“If anybody here has an emergency, there’s not a chance an emergency vehicle is getting anywhere up here,” Yeager said. “I just wanted to make sure somebody knew that, because we have multiple elderly residents, a child with disabilities … and new baby, new mom.”
Yeager canceled a meeting and doctor’s appointment, and her family had to stay at her house for about a week.
“It seems like surely we’re capable of more than this,” Yeager said. “We should be able to set the bar a little bit higher.”
WTOP has contacted D.C.’s Department of Public Works for comment.