LYNN — As the city continues to get pummeled by snow, Department of Public Works crews are working to stay ahead of the storm.
Andrew Hall, department of public works commissioner, said the city is responsible for plowing 163 miles of roads. He said the DPW has 50 of their own plows out, along with 285 contract pieces of equipment.
Residents have been urged to stay off the roads, as more than a foot of snow is forecasted. Hall said one of the biggest challenges with storm clean-up is cars on the roads, but that the early parking ban, which went into effect at 10 p.m. Wednesday has helped with that aspect. He said crews were also prepared for downed trees with heavy winds.
“Having the parking ban early and working with all the public safety officials and with the DPW really helped,” said Mayor Thomas M. McGee during a visit to the DPW yard late Thursday morning. “Once the cars were off the street (they) really got the salt and sand down. It really got the streets ready to go.”
McGee said without cars blocking the ability of crews to get streets plowed, there was no impediment to them getting the job done. “So it’s really a good start,” he said.
Thursday’s storm comes after the city faced criticism following their response to the Christmas day snowfall. Residents complained that roads weren’t plowed following the snow.
Hall again cited the parking ban as a major difference-maker.
“Well, this time, we have a parking ban, so there’s no cars on the road presumably and it’s much easier for plows to navigate the streets,” Hall said. “The forecast (on Christmas) was for one inch of snow and we got three and that combined with the deep freeze afterward.”
McGee said on Christmas, people were also traveling. In fairness to Lynn, he said all of the other surrounding communities had the same problem, as their streets were in similar conditions, or in worse shape in some instances.
“(With) three to four inches, if you’re in the 20s, the sun softens that up, but we had that amazing cold weather that came in right after the storm,” McGee said. “I’m really impressed with the work the crew’s doing down here, getting the salt out there early on and being ready to go today.”
With this storm, McGee said flooding would be a problem. Another issue, he said, is that another freeze is coming in with subzero temperatures forecasted. Once plowing is completed, salting and sanding will be important to combat that, he said.
The mayor said he held a conference call on Wednesday to prepare for the storm — part of that plan includes having some staff on hand at City Hall. He joked that he thanked everybody on the call for planning a major storm for his second day in office, calling it a “wonderful present from the team.”
He’s planning another conference call later this afternoon to see where the city is at, after the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is scheduled to lay out their statewide plan at 4 p.m.
“You’ve got everybody out working hard trying to deal with whatever the storm drops on us,” McGee said.
More storm coverage
Photos: The first major storm of 2018 lashes the North Shore
Videos: Floodwater pours into Lynn as storm bears down on the coast
