The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
SNOWBANK REMOVAL
DPW, DOT partner to clear snow from intersections after Stella
ONEIDA, N.Y. >> Winter Storm Stella may not have broken snowfall records in the City of Oneida - see the Blizzard of 1966 - but she was fierce enough to shut down the City of Oneida Municipal Building, congest the streets and sidewalks with close to 2 feet of snow, and result in a temporary travel and parking ban.
On Friday, the roads were clear and City Hall was back open, but there was still plenty of work to do for the Oneida Department of Public Works.
In fact, City of Oneida Mayor Leo Matzke is enlisting the help of the regional New York State Department of Transportation to expedite the snow removal process and com- bat the view-obstructing snowbanks on busy intersections and clear the city’s 40-plus miles of sidewalk for pedestrians. As a result, the city will have state DOT crews and multiple pieces of heavy equipment brought in to assist in the clearing of city property.
“I reached out to the governor yesterday, and he sent five big 10-wheelers today and a payloader to help us get rid of all of it,” Matzke said. “Some of the snow is higher than the plow or snowblower.”
The DOT vehicles included state workers to help alleviate some of the city’s burden.
Throughout the day on Friday, the DOT payloader attacked massive snowbanks in the busier parts of downtown, including banks at the Broad Street/ Lenox Avenue intersection.
“I reached out to the governor yesterday, and he sent five big 10-wheelers today and a payloader to help us get rid of all of it. Some of the snow is higher than the plow or snowblower.”
— Oneida Mayor Leo Matzke
In addition to the added resources from the NYS DOT, City of Oneida DPW employees have been working at a feverish pace to restore visibility and sidewalk access in the city.
Sidewalk plows are out andworking on sidewalks closest to the city center and downtown area first. Expectations are that crews will continue to work on clearing the sidewalks over the weekend.
It may take DPW workers a week before they completely clear the 43 miles of sidewalk in the City of Oneida, barring additional snowfall or an equipment breakdown, city officials say.
The DPW crews are also targeting view-obstructing snowbanks, and as of Friday afternoon, had cleared the snow away from the Oneida City Police and Oneida City Fire stations.
Cleared snow is taken to a cityowned field near the DPW building.
Though the DOT will be unable to assist over the weekend, workers and equipment will return on Monday, the estimated date of snow removal completion by City Engineer Jon Rauscher.