This Needs To Work

There are days when all you can do is marvel at the depth of incompetence.

On Tuesday, when I stepped out to clear what should have been a dusting — really, half an inch — off the sidewalk on my lunch break, I instead found several inches of heavy, icy chunks piled on the sidewalk spanning my entire block.

Really, I should not have been surprised. I watched it happen.

I opted to work from home to eliminate the stress of a snowy commute, and paused to look out my window. I saw two plow trucks parked on my street. The drivers, unmasked and standing only a couple feet from one another, were having some sort of logistics conversation. This detail I’ve included lest anyone cry about a staff shortage.

Whatever they decided, it did not stop them from what reads like an act of aggression against pedestrians and property owners alike.

The drivers were not speeding along, which one might expect. Instead, they were going slowly, able to see exactly what problems they were causing.

I complained through various channels.

This is the response I got:

Nevermind that we’re still under Covid restrictions, greatly reducing the number of vehicles on the roads at any given time; thus, reducing the total amount of space needed to accommodate said vehicles. Who is handing down the orders to do this?

This screws pedestrians twice: first by encouraging speeding, and second by making the sidewalks so difficult to use that many opt to walk or use their wheelchairs in the streets.

Even if we all agreed that streets should be cleared curb-to-curb, wouldn’t you expect plow drivers to use better judgement than this?

The road I am on is a one-way street. When fully cleared, it spans three lanes. Parking is allowed only on one side. There is no reason to give this a curb-to-curb treatment. Can a firetruck easily use the street? Then that’s enough.

This is not just about my street.

Many streets in Hartford are overly wide, whether one-way or the normal traffic flow.

So, there’s one thing. Instead of letting nature do some traffic calming, the City actually wasted money.

It should be noted that the trucks did not even clear the slush out of the middle of the road on my street, where people drive. A guy in the neighborhood with a plow on his pickup truck came through later and cleaned up what the DPW failed at doing.

Then there’s the other thing. More complaints about snow removal from sidewalks are made to 311 than they address, and they’re just lucky that only a few people bother to use the service.

Knowing that there is an ongoing issue of getting a number of property owners to clear sidewalks within the time outlined in the ordinance. why would the City of Hartford willfully exacerbate the problem?

Why not redirect efforts from this curb-to-curb plowing nonsense to having the DPW clear the curb ramps and bus stops that are not shoveled? Why not follow up on those complaints against repeated offenders, like the Family Dollar plaza that plows snow from the parking lot over the top of the sidewalk or the car storage facility across from Bushnell Park that ensures its lots is clean but never shovels out its curb ramps without having to be told to do so first?

Sidewalks are not decorative borders.

For pedestrians, this ranges from annoying to a nightmare.

You will see people walking in the road. You will see people using wheelchairs in the road.

Why?

Because the City of Hartford just told us, through their actions, that the street is what they have prioritized, regardless of the costs.

This is not about maintaining a nice place for people to jog, though that would be legitimate on its own. For all the talk about thanking essential workers, I don’t see much respect when it comes to helping those folks get to work; many rely on the bus system or their own two feet to get them to these essential jobs. Many do not have a remote work option they can use when they know their commute will be dangerous due to indifference, laziness, and/or incompetence.

Hartford is not the only place on the planet to get snow. If our leadership wants to ever stop looking foolish, it would do well to look at how functional northern cities manage to maintain infrastructure year-round for all residents — not just for those who can afford a private vehicle.