Lynn DPW earns praise for plow job

LYNN – After being widely criticized for their work clearing Lynn streets during February’s blizzard, the city’s Department of Public Works received praise for a much-improved plow job after Friday’s snowstorm.”I can’t even believe the difference this time,” said Falls Street resident Denise Noel-Tyler, who said her tiny street was cleared within hours of the storm, which dumped about a foot of snow on the area Friday morning and afternoon. “They plowed right up to the sidewalks, they even plowed the sidewalks. That’s how great they did.”Noel-Tyler said by contrast, her street was never plowed after the Feb. 8-9 blizzard, which left city and contractor plows scrambling to clear 2 feet of snow from roads.”I live on a very small street, and people park on both sides, and it was crazy, you couldn’t even get up and down my street that time,” she said.Lynn Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy, who publicly criticized the DPW in February, said Saturday she received only two complaints about plowing.”That’s really extraordinarily low considering the amount of snow that fell and the uncertainty that was in the forecast leading up to it,” she said.Kennedy said she wasn’t quite sure what led to the improved plow job: Perhaps crews had a chance to perfect their routes during the blizzard; perhaps the smaller amount of snow helped make their jobs easier, she theorized.She added she even learned lessons from February’s blizzard, such as instituting a parking ban during a major snowstorm indefinitely instead of giving a specific end-time.DPW Commissioner Manny Alcantara did not return a call seeking comment Saturday.Not everyone was happy with city streets after Friday’s storm, though.Many posted on The Daily Item’s Facebook page that they wish the city had instituted a parking ban to help encourage plowing.And Lynn resident Jesse Jaeger said plows completely missed his side street on Williams Terrace, near Chatham and Essex streets.”This is the second storm in a row we haven’t seen a plow,” he said.He was one of several residents on small streets who complained about not being plowed at all. That’s a larger problem for many residents who live on those streets, said Barbara Boyd, who lives on Seaside Terrace near the Swampscott Line.”We’re completely forgotten about all the time,” Boyd said.But Kennedy maintained her praise for DPW employees, saying they are tasked with a nearly impossible job during snowstorms.”I give a big pat on the back to all those drivers who have been working so hard to keep the roads clear. They did a great job,” she said.Amber Parcher can be reached at [email protected].