Crews counter blizzard’s fury

Travel, parking bans enable plows to stay on top of storm

John Howell
Posted 1/29/15

By JOHN HOWELL

This time, people were prepared.

Officials weren’t going to let Rhode Island be paralyzed for more than a week, as happened following the Blizzard of 1978. And as it turned …

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Crews counter blizzard’s fury

Travel, parking bans enable plows to stay on top of storm

Posted

By JOHN HOWELL

This time, people were prepared.

Officials weren’t going to let Rhode Island be paralyzed for more than a week, as happened following the Blizzard of 1978. And as it turned out, thanks to some good timing, lots of advance preparation and conditions that weren’t as bad as they could have been, Winter Storm Juno didn’t bring the state to a standstill.

Well, actually, some might complain that things came to a halt after Gov. Gina Raimondo made it clear she was serious about a travel ban that lasted until 8 p.m. Tuesday.

But that ban is what enabled crews to do their job. Without it, snowbound vehicles would have surely hampered road-clearing efforts, and authorities would have had to cope with stranded travelers.

As dawn arrived Tuesday after a night of howling winds and swirling snow, Warwick crews were keeping pace with all that Juno dished out. It wasn’t easy, but it was a lot easier without people on the road.

The city and state were spared from the worst of Juno’s wrath. The storm dumped 19.1 inches of snow on Warwick, according to measurements taken at Green Airport, as compared to 36 inches recorded in Western Massachusetts.

According to the National Weather Service, blizzard conditions – defined as when visibility dropped to quarter-mile or less and wind gusts were 35 mph or more – were recorded at Green from 5:44 to 8:29 a.m. Tuesday and again from 10:40 to 10:51 a.m.

“I’m in Florida,” Department of Public Works Director David Picozzi said facetiously when asked by telephone how he was doing Tuesday morning.

Actually, while crews didn’t have an easy time of it with the blowing snow, according to Mayor Scott Avedisian there was only one rescue run during the night, and that was to deliver a pregnant woman to Kent Hospital. He said that there had been only five motor vehicle accidents throughout the city since the travel ban was declared Monday night and Tuesday morning. Avedisian said he had heard of only one incident where someone lost power.

“It was the best thing,” Picozzi said of the travel ban as a reporter accompanied he and Avedisian to see conditions first-hand.

People paid attention, too. Picozzi said a couple of women displayed their nurse badges when he stopped to offer them assistance. Their car was stuck in a drift but was quickly freed.

Picozzi said people also observed the parking ban and maybe one or two vehicles had to be towed, but no more.

The storm brought a halt to operations at Green Airport. Amtrak ceased operations; and with the travel ban, RIPTA runs were canceled. Schools were closed Tuesday, and by early Tuesday afternoon the decision had been made to close them on Wednesday.

Flights at Green resumed shortly after 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, and an airport spokeswoman expected the full flight schedule would be operational as of today. As of 10:45 a.m. yesterday, RIPTA had restored full bus service, although because of conditions, 16 routes were on detour. Amtrak was running on a modified schedule.

Tuesday and Wednesday trash and recyclable collections were canceled.

“I know it’s going to make some people mad,” Picozzi said Wednesday of the decision to cancel the collections rather than delay them, as is the practice when a single day is missed.

Picozzi urged people to “cram it in,” and said the normal schedule would resume next week.

Picozzi said he sent his crews – about 120 – home at 9 p.m. Tuesday after 37 hours of being on the job.

“I told them to go home and get some sleep,” he said.

They didn’t get that much rest, however. Crews were back out first thing yesterday, widening streets and working to improve visibility at intersections with mountains of snow.

Picozzi expected crews would start clearing sidewalks today, beginning with those in front of schools. He is also keeping an eye on the forecast for more snow Friday.

“They’re saying three or four inches,” he said.

There’s also the prospect of a more significant storm on Sunday, although that wasn’t on Picozzi’s radar yesterday.

“We’ll take one day at a time,” he said.

Joseph Blake, director of city buildings, offered a silver lining to the cleanup operation, although in some instances drifts had sealed off doors. Unlike some other winters when one storm followed another on an almost weekly basis, Blake pointed out that this was the first major storm and there was a place to put all the snow.

A front-end loader was needed to clear the stairwells at the Thayer Arena. Crews shoveled snow into the lowered bucket while a snow blower was used to clear the handicapped ramp.

Jim Dorney, director of the rink and pool, said the drifts were the worst he’s seen in the 24 years he’s worked at Mickey Stevens Sports Complex. Meanwhile, the rink and pool lot became the parking lot for sanitation and recycling trucks. The switch was made so crews could plow the nearby city yard and haul away mounds of snow that were then dumped at the city compost station.

Avedisian expressed his appreciation for all the hard work. In an email sent yesterday to city workers, he wrote, “A great big thank you to you and all of our employees for the diligent and professional manner in which they performed above and beyond the call of duty during the recent snow storm. I am proud of the work that each person in the Department did and am grateful for all the effort shown.”

The mayor witnessed the work firsthand.

As he and Picozzi conducted a survey of conditions Tuesday morning, the radio was remarkably silent. In prior storms, the radio crackled with reports of equipment breakdowns and areas needing special attention.

The wind, more than the snow, was the challenge. Crews had to keep returning to push aside the wind-driven snow that left some areas appearing as if they had never been touched.

“This is really bad,” Avedisian said as Picozzi’s vehicle slid from side to side in a section of Post Road in Greenwood.

“This is state,” Picozzi answered, meaning it wasn’t up to the city to plow.

Further on at Byron Boulevard – a city road – they found a private truck and plow abandoned in the middle of the road. Picozzi was on the radio and, as it turned out, the vehicle had already been reported.

Picozzi wasn’t satisfied with the road anyway, and asked for a plow to make another pass. The survey continued into Pawtuxet Village and then southbound on Narragansett Parkway and over to Country Club Drive, where they found Ward 1 Councilman Steven Colantuono shoveling out his two vehicles. In the event of a power loss, Colantuono brewed coffee the night before and had thermoses standing by. The offer was declined as the survey continued.

On Warwick Avenue near Governor Francis Farms, Picozzi spotted a city truck driven by Joseph Flamand at the roadside. Flamand reported he was having trouble with the vehicle. It would run for a short time and then lose power as if running out of fuel. Flamand thought the diesel fuel might be turning to gel, as can happen in sub-zero conditions.

“It’s not cold enough,” Picozzi said. He told Flamand to drive the truck to the city yard and he would follow. They hadn’t gone 100 feet before the truck came to a halt. Picozzi jumped out, as did the mayor to diagnose the problem. Flamand tried popping the hood without success. Picozzi peered through the grill.

“It looks like it’s iced up,” he said of the air intakes.

Picozzi poked around trying to knock free the ice. At that point, a DPW service truck from the garage pulled up and two mechanics took over.

“They’re the professionals,” Picozzi said.

“In the grand scheme of things, it could have been a lot worse,” said Avedisian as the survey continued. But for as good as it was going, Picozzi wasn’t satisfied.

Via radio, he advised one driver not to dally.

“You’re about to lose it,” he warned.

“It’s like that everywhere,” came the reply.

“No, it’s not,” insisted Picozzi. “I’ve been everywhere.”

Comments

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  • Notbornyesterday

    Head on over to the Stacia Facebook page, lots of bashing of the hardworking DPW guys. Some of the minion followers are complaining about unplowed roads where the others are complaining the snow was piled to high. Wow, they just have to complain about something. Unreal. I worked during the storm, DPW did a great job. By the way STACIA/SABRINA still hasn't responded to screennamegate... Figures

    Thursday, January 29, 2015 Report this

  • Notbornyesterday

    She also has some really informative videos (sarcastic). She must have gone to the Rob Cote school of filming and driving. Maybe the city can invest in the "Magic Snow Wand" that makes snow disappear in minutes....

    Thursday, January 29, 2015 Report this

  • Notbornyesterday

    Stacia, just an FYI. You seem to be very upset with the lack of ice melt used. If you did a little research you would understand that Salt/ice melt is very ineffective against cold weather. In very cold temps like the ones we had during the storm truck put down sand not ice melt. Also putting ice melt down in the nighttime is also very inefficient. The way I see it (not an expert but have an idea what I'm talking about) the city did exactly what they should have. If the spread ice melt it generally would have been a waste. Keep on complaining and driving and filming. You'll kill someone before icy roads do!!!!

    Thursday, January 29, 2015 Report this

  • Notbornyesterday

    Now Stacia/Sabrina is complaining on facebook that her trash was picked up ON THE DAY IT WAS SUPOSED TO... This woman (who wanted to be out Mayor) complains about every single thing. And once again a lot of people try to answer her questions and she blocks them. She will stop at nothing to lie to the only people that believe her.

    Friday, January 30, 2015 Report this