Richmond was blanketed by snow Sunday and it worked out perfectly for most everyone. Fun to play, many workers and schools already had Monday off for President's Day, relatively safe to drive and melted rather quickly as Monday warmed up and the sun shined brightly.
We always hear about how some other city up north never has problems clearing snow. They never miss school (well, almost never), everybody comes to work, the city/state takes out snow like it would the trash and little old ladies all have their own snowplows and everybody moves along like snow means nothing to them.
Well, not in Richmond. Not in Virginia. Not below the Mason-Dixon line. We can't afford to remove snow that quickly for one, but two, we love snow, we love to complain about it, play in it and especially tease each other about how we have to shop for groceries ahead of storms.
This might be our only chance to play in the snow this year. Yes, we had a large amount of snow to deal with the past two years and it did get old after a while, but one snow a season is something most everyone has to appreciate, right? Some years we don't get any -- that is something to complain about.
Removing snow is Richmond isn't normal. This is not their regular duty -- its like that one job you have to do once a year that you always forget how to do. This isn't Syracuse or Rochester where snow removal is a daily task. It usually requires overtime. The workers have a big responsibility and any mistake (like clipping a car) is super trouble. Give the guys a break!
Almost everyone is cash-strapped these days, but so far this winter VDOT has caught a break. After the previous two years, we could use a light year to catch up. Maybe we'll have more money to repair the existing road problems!
VDOT budgeted $10,243,000 in snow removal costs in the Richmond district for the 2011-12 winter season. It budgeted $125,939,000 for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia. The Commonwealth spent $207.9 million on snow operations during the winter of 2010-2011, and $266.8 million during the winter of 2009-2010, according to its website.
VDOT has a total of 9,094 state and hired pieces of equipment. About 91,000 tons of sand and 307,000 tons of salt, 401,000 gallons of liquid calcium chloride and 150,000 gallons of liquid magnesium chloride are in stock and will be replenished as they are used.
"A statewide network of 77 weather sensors in roadways and bridges, plus 16 mobile video data platforms, allows crews to quickly identify when and where road surfaces might be freezing," according to VDOT.
The City of Richmond has a new Snow Plow Map that several users found helpful during the Sunday evening blanketing the area experienced. It would have been a shame if we didn't get one storm in so they could show it off.
Oh, we'll definitely have school and work delays as Richmond "digs out" from whatever snow and ice didn't melt on Monday, but what city do you think does it better than Richmond? What does Richmond do wrong with snow removal? I mean, is it really worth putting everyone on the roads at the same time and have multiple accidents just so we can prove we know how to remove snow quickly and can drive in snow?
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