No plows out on Saturday

[carltonplace]

I was on the Riverparks trail on Saturday afternoon (which had been cleared and Riverside had not been cleared). As I was running several plows cleared Riverside drive and spewed the slush all over the trails...including the many people who were using the trails. It looked very cold and uncomfortable...glad I saw them coming and got out of the way. 

[custosnox]

I was on the Riverparks trail on Saturday afternoon (which had been cleared and Riverside had not been cleared). As I was running several plows cleared Riverside drive and spewed the slush all over the trails...including the many people who were using the trails. It looked very cold and uncomfortable...glad I saw them coming and got out of the way. 

I had noticed the clear trails as I was cruising down the Riverside Ice Drive.  Made me wonder who cleared em.

[GG]

Oh good, if Bartlett is in charge of plowing that means it will be cleared overnight.. or 3 weeks from now. It's all the same, right?

I think he was eating a bowl of Ike's Chili too. 

[HoneySuckle]

Personally I think we are pretty fortunate, and that city officials are trying to do all they can to make the situation we're in weather wise as tolerable as possible.  There is only so much clearing that can be done in a day.  My street is still snow packed/iced but at least they were able to clear most of the main roads last week.

[TUalum0982]

Not a fan of Barlett, and I understand a storm of this size has never hit Tulsa, but why did he wait so long to contact the local construction companies to contract them out and use their equipment?  Shouldnt Bartlett, his chief of staff, or someone who gets paid the kind of money they do, suggest this sooner then they did?

[Red Arrow]

Not a fan of Barlett, and I understand a storm of this size has never hit Tulsa, but why did he wait so long to contact the local construction companies to contract them out and use their equipment?  Shouldnt Bartlett, his chief of staff, or someone who gets paid the kind of money they do, suggest this sooner then they did?

Contractors do not work for free.  Tulsa is not flush with money.

[TUalum0982]

Contractors do not work for free.  Tulsa is not flush with money.

so whats the point of waiting a week to do a weeks worth of work?  I mean lets say they started on Wed Feb 2nd and worked until Wed Feb 9th.  A week is still a week, is it not?  I dont recall the exact date of when they had this genious idea of calling in contractors, but I know it wasnt immediately after the storm.  I believe it was this past Sun or Mon? Correct me if I am wrong though. 

It wasnt like they were guaranteed a certaina amount of money, or days to do the job.  It just seems like it could have been handled better then it was.  As for Christiansen liking this to Katrina, what an idiot.  This was nowhere near Katrina.  Please Christiasen, dont run for re election.

[patric]

As for Christiansen liking this to Katrina, what an idiot.  This was nowhere near Katrina.  Please Christiasen, dont run for re election.

But New Orleans was ready this time...  http://www.theonion.com/video/fema-rushes-supplies-to-new-orleans-in-anticipatio,18982/

[TheTed]

I'm sure the construction companies earned their snow removal money in some ways, but a significant amount of what they did was wasteful and not necessary. Spending hours doing what amounted to touchup work on the outside lanes of unnecessarily wide downtown streets a day or two before mother nature would've done it for them was not the best use of money.

[nathanm]

TUalum, did you forget that we had several rounds of snow, not just one big snowfall?

[TUalum0982]

TUalum, did you forget that we had several rounds of snow, not just one big snowfall?

no I didnt forget at all, I was out working in it, staying at the hilton by the airport just so I could make it into work (yeah I am that important (sarcasm)).  Through my eyes, it just appears that once the city realized they were overwhelmed, then they felt it necessary to call in the local construction companies.  Yes they can say we receive another 4-6 inches of snow on Fri Feb 4th, but lets be honest, not much of it actually stuck to the roads.  Again, I am not saying CoT did a horrible job, myself, along with many included think it could have been handled alot differently and they could have been called in earlier to help out.


An example, Sat Feb 5th driving down Sheridan around 1300, there was not even a single lane cleared.  It was all snow packed, and you were forced to drive 15-20mph unless you wanted to immediately head to a repair shop for an alignment.  That is 4 days after the storm hit.  And again, I understand it was super cold, but 4 days later and a majority of the arterial streets are still snowpacked without a lane cleared and you must drive 15-20mph hr?  Things could have, and should have been handled differently.

[Conan71]

My mother said a crew with several dump trucks, bobcats, and front end loaders showed up on her street.  They proceeded to create a massive and dangerous pile of snow on her street corner.  They never loaded anything into the trucks.  She was trying to figure out what the trucks were for unless the truck drivers were trying to get some overtime.  That was part of what we were told the city was going to do was actually haul away a large portion of the snow on important feeder streets throughout neighborhoods.  In my 'hood, they simply plowed Darlington from 21st to 31st and left it mounded on the sides where side walks will be unusable for another week or so.  That wouldn't be such a big deal other than kids and parents who use those sidewalks to get to Hoover Elementary and back.

[nathanm]

An example, Sat Feb 5th driving down Sheridan around 1300, there was not even a single lane cleared.  It was all snow packed, and you were forced to drive 15-20mph unless you wanted to immediately head to a repair shop for an alignment.  That is 4 days after the storm hit.  And again, I understand it was super cold, but 4 days later and a majority of the arterial streets are still snowpacked without a lane cleared and you must drive 15-20mph hr?  Things could have, and should have been handled differently.

As I was saying earlier, they could have fully cleared some streets and left others untouched, or they could have plowed once to pack down the snow and make it passable to most people and make more roads passable without high clearance 4wd vehicles and snow chains. Basically, you want the city to have cleared the roads you drive on and left everybody else high and dry. Either that or miraculously have three times the plows.

In snowier climes, people drive on packed snow for half the year. You too can do it. I did. No problem. And my alignment is still fine.

Also, I take issue with "4 days after the storm hit." 4 days after the first dumping, 2 days after the second, which was 6 freaking inches, which we normally consider to be a pretty hefty amount of snow, and a couple of days before the third which brought another five. (would have been four storms, but one didn't materialize for us, it went farther south)

[Red Arrow]

In snowier climes, people drive on packed snow for half the year. You too can do it. I did. No problem. And my alignment is still fine.

Packed snow is fine.  Memorial between the Creek Tpk and just south of 111th was like a washboard after the first dumping.  If you tried to go faster than about 15 mph you would be heading for the alignment shop to get new shocks and an alignment.  It was actually better after the next snow.

[TUalum0982]

As I was saying earlier, they could have fully cleared some streets and left others untouched, or they could have plowed once to pack down the snow and make it passable to most people and make more roads passable without high clearance 4wd vehicles and snow chains. Basically, you want the city to have cleared the roads you drive on and left everybody else high and dry. Either that or miraculously have three times the plows.

In snowier climes, people drive on packed snow for half the year. You too can do it. I did. No problem. And my alignment is still fine.

Also, I take issue with "4 days after the storm hit." 4 days after the first dumping, 2 days after the second, which was 6 freaking inches, which we normally consider to be a pretty hefty amount of snow, and a couple of days before the third which brought another five. (would have been four storms, but one didn't materialize for us, it went farther south)

Since Feb 2nd, I have driven over 1100 miles, one trip to OKC, but mainly around Tulsa.  It wasnt only Sheridan that was bad, it was every single arterial street.  Again, I know this was a storm we have never seen before. My MAIN and ONLY point is that I think Mayor Bartlett could have realized ALOT earlier that the CoT was overwhelmed, could have, and should have called in the local construction companies sooner then they did.  

Packed snow is fine to drive on, like this past wed that dumped however much it dumped.  But when a majority of the city streets are washboards, thats unacceptable given the amount of time they had to clear them.