The ‘berg at 12th and E NE, this morning. Photo courtesy of Lynette Craig.
Happy February, Capitol Hill! It’s been a longish week since we were all buried in A LOT of snow, and the city’s response to the initial blizzard was spot on. Mayor Bowser’s administration was responsive and played it safe, making timely announcements and rolling up the city so the largest number of people could be safe and in place.
A pedestrian walks in the middle of the street in order to cross Massachusetts Avenue NE, as the ramps were still covered with ice, 1/29/16. Photo by María Helena Carey
However, now we need to address a small… well, small is not the word. It’s been a week and we still have more than a few icebergs taking up parking spots, blocking intersections, and generally looming menacingly over the city. The Department of Public Works has been on top of garbage collection and other things –most notably, the issuance of a metric poop ton of parking tickets (actual measurement) amounting to over $1M in fees, some of which were later pardoned by the city. At $250 a pop, it must have been pretty horrible to find one of those beauties on your windshield, so I am not judging or taking sides here. It has been a lot of additional work, to catch up on trash collection and to issue tickets and tow cars, so good job, DPW. Pat yourself on the back.
Back to that small thing: Hello, GLACIERS?!
When fellow Hill mom Lynette Craig posted on Facebook about the massive mound of dirty ice blocking half of the intersection at 12th and E Streets NE (pictured above), I started looking around neighboring streets. While it’s great that this time around the National Park Service was relatively quick in clearing paths at Stanton Park (which has not always been the case), I encountered twin monsters of charcoal horror flanking either side of the 300 block of C Street NE. Within that same walk, I encountered large mounds on E Street NE and 6th Street NE. This is not an exhaustive list, obviously.
The massif on the south side of 4th and C Streets NE. Photo by María Helena Carey.
The north boulder at 4th and C NE. Photo by María Helena Carey.
I understand it takes time to clean up the city: Crews are doing the best they can and, frankly, for the amount of snow that accumulated, it’s amazing that life was able to start back up at all last week. However, the snow and ice in some places– especially near intersections and at the entrances to alleys– makes it difficult and downright unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists to share, let alone use, the road. It’s understandable that last week things were still a little messy, but it’s getting to be time to insure the city is cleared up, especially if we have more snow events in the horizon. This is not a criticism as much as a hope that others will also help DPW identify those places that are still making it difficult to get around normally in our neighborhood.
If you see piles of snow that are making circulation difficult or dangerous around your home or regular intersections, tell us in the comments or tag us on Twitter @TheHillisHome.
An iceberg looms on 6th Street NE, close to the entrance to Acker Street NE. Photo by María Helena Carey.
An almost-mailbox-high iceberg at the corner of 5th and E NE, opposite Stuart-Hobson Middle School. Photo by María Helena Carey.