"10"

Did a great job. 9.5
my street was clean and by noon on Saturday was down to hottop.

10!

The plows have done a great job on the streets the narrow roads make it difficult to clean out all that snow. I just wish a couple people had more respect for the towns parking ban which made the DPWs job a little more challenging. 8.5

Unfortunately, the plowing I witnessed was marginal at best on the main roads and many side streets received only a single pass with no follow-up. I haven't seen a plow truck since the snow stopped. The entire effort appears uncoordinated. Upon leaving MHD, I've found the roads to be much better, down to bare pavement and much wider.

Ratings should be based on comparison to other towns, not the amount of snow. If all other towns had problems then we could understand.

I am sure the plow drivers did their best; but objectively Salem and Swampscott did a much better job.

Was it manpower, equipment, or just inexperience? In any event the Selectmen need to get to the bottom of this. Simply find out what the issues were and address them. That is their job.

We were fortunate that there we no stories of a disaster because emergency vehicles were delayed due to roads. We may not be so lucky next storm.

3, a disaster, the worst ever. Our street still horrible. Are they trying to save money. Same with the mowing for the parks last summer. Salem streets make Marblehead look like a poor second cousin.

I think the town DPW does an outstanding job with what they have, however, I wonder whether the town has the right equipment and the right staffing. For instance, wouldn't a sidewalk plowing program make sense? Most towns that I see during my rounds seem to plow their sidewalks.

3! The Bessom St area and the Roundhouse Rd parking lot is a mess. People have been getting stuck all weekend. I needed help pushing my car out of the parking lot this morning.

someone's gonna get hurt/killed if something isn't done
about the sidewalks...plowing a 4 to 5..not that great

I get the fact that these types of storms are hard to control, But it was over basically Sat morning...we still have no sidewalk access and most if Not all roads are still horrible to drive on...unsafe for traffic in and out of side streets due to the piles. Children sitting home from schoold because the town could not clear the roads?

2! Roosevelt Ave. was completely neglected. Plow came by Saturday morning and that was it until sometime today.

Comparitively, my wife works at Beverly Hospital and had to drive through Salem and Beverly Saturday and Sunday. She said Marblehead was by far the worst.

2,
After 23 years in commercial/municipal snow removal I would have been embarresed to have left any of my roads the way the local towns did after this storm.
There is absolutly no excuse with the state of emergency,federal monies etc to have streets with only half lane widths,6" of snow an slush on them 48 hours after the storm ended.
I'm not sure what the failure was,training or lack of embition but it was/still is a failure.
I'm sorry I've always had friends that worked for local dpw's but it is a mess out there.

Not nearly as good as the plowing done, during large snow falls, in prior years.

Sidewalks not cleared because they were using the mini sidewalk plow to do streets (including my mine).

That's because you all park your cars on your st.

i would rate on the very low end. I drove out to central Mass on sunday,,and the only bad roads were Marblehead and Swampcott, once i hit the Lynn town line,,streets were impressively plowed right down to the tar, came back last night, and could barely get in my driveway from the slippery main street.

Abysmal would be a compliment. Given that the recording that we all received asked that we stay off the roads so the town could "properly clear and treat them," it was unimaginable that every town or private truck with plows did not even have their plow down. The roads are impassable. many side roads were neglected and sidewalks non existent. My daughter noted that plowing is like homework where time management is critical. If you don't time the plowing right, you'll never catch up. At most, we'd give the town a 1.

Lol go back to ny

Come on people, maybe some of the problem has to do with the private plow drivers you hire. They come into your driveways and leave a mess out in the street after the plows have been there numerous times.
Bessom St and Roundhouse Rd problems, are you serious? If you park on Roundhouse Rd, get a shovel and clear you car out like the rest of us. You get free parking and you expect the town to also plow you out? That whole area is is a disaster because of Gilbert and Cole, Village Plaza and other business in the area. Where do you think all the snow went when it left those their parking lots?
Now about the sidewalks, get use to not seeing them till spring. where do you think your private plow drivers put the snow? Right on the sidewalk and once again you expect the town to clear it for you? Maybe it's time everyone looked in the mirror and think exactly where all the snowfrom your property ended up?

Two words GOOD JOB

Giving them any higher than a 4 would be insane. Even giving them a 4 would be insane. It almost seems like no job was done at all. Almost everywhere I drive in Marblehead the streets are still covered with a decent layer of snow at best. Then I reach the town line and the streets are not only plowed well, they're all visible! It looks like all the plows gave up plowing before the snow stopped falling and then just hoped cars driving over it would help do the rest of the work for them. I'm actually appalled at how many plows I saw driving around, lights flashing, blades up with snow still on the streets. I'm really wondering what everyone's criteria is when they are giving a good rating?

I don't think it is in any way critical of the town workers to suggest that they need better, newer and more plentiful equipment and more staffing so they can work smarter, not harder. I don't think Marblehead is giving these guys the best tools to work with.

Jon move to Swampscott, drive around a bit, you will see. Untill then stop talking, btw buddy Swampscott and Salem have State roads plowed by the state. Do your homework or move out.Good luck.

We are true Marbleheaders. True New Englanders not fakes that pretend to be. Like you Mr. Bubba

Header is being very inappropriate. This is a blog for comments about MHD DPW response to the blizzard, not personal attacks. Take it to Facebook.

Chris, the same terms require use of real names. Are SOME of the rules more important than others?

Let's get back on topic... the poor plowing. Even now, Tuesday morning, a full three days after the storm, people are getting stuck in the snow on Bessom St. And the Roundhill parking area is almost impassable.

As a mater of fact, I did just get out my jammies... To go help an old man get his truck off off a snow bank on the corner of Bessom and Pleasant St. Then I went down to Roundhill and helped some other people get out. I'm doing my part to help out in a bad situation. Not just attacking others people personally for their critique of the DPW response.

How many of you people complaing about the job they did could sit and drive a plow truck for 35 hrs strait. Most of the dpw workers barely even got coffe breaks. This was a long crazy storm and theres alot of factors that come i to play. A thank you would be nice. We did the best we could, no need to put is down most of us barlely can carch up on sleep and have been out working doing snow removal every night.

Bottom line this was a huge storm lots of snow and wind, creating snowdrifts filling the st as soon as u drove down them. Basically impossible to keep ip with bu the way the duration of the noght you couldnt see the front of the truck, and bozos were out walking around and playing in the snow. How can u justify spending millions of dollars on equipment that would it be ised ever few years when a freak storm comes theough. Sry your weekend got inconvineced but you should just deal with it, if all your worried about is a wasted weekend and a poor plow job in 27 inch storm then life is good. Why dont you relax and not criticize re peoe that were working hard to clear the roads for ungrateful people like yourself. To all of you grateful and polite people thank you for cooperating and being all in all just nice people

Undoubtedly, the challenges presented by a storm of this magnitude are/were more then the MHD DPW could be expected to handle without any short-comings occurring. The point of Chris Helms blog thread was to "give praise or thanks, express frustrations or offer up constructive criticism".
I want to make clear that I am thankful to all the MHD DPW workers that have spent many hours responding to this historic event. Their task is/was to make the roads and sidewalks clear, for the rest of us to carry on with our lives, and for the most part they have succeeded. Unfortunately, there have been some failures too and this public forum is one way to to make these know... so as to provide for possible improvement in the future.
Expressing frustrations with the results effecting me and my neighbors, and bringing attention to a particular area of town, should not detract from the overall results. Nor should it open me, and others, up for whatever hateful comments come to small minds that have access to a computer.
Sadly, a few have chosen to make personal attacks on anyone not completely satisfied, rather then offer constructive criticism of their own. Yet another sad commentary on American society in general.

Haha why does it matter my last name matter? By the way bubba seems like an alias,I got nothing to hide my last names sylvester and i plowed broughton rd to rose ave and put forth my best effort.. And i dont think we did a decent job i know everyone i work with put in 100 % effort i know i did. Its frustrating to hear you complain so much. Thats clearly why your being picked on or singled out. By the way swampscott does not have better equipment. How do u know what town has what for equipment. Just think your rude all of the dpw workers have been working countless hours to try and fix this giant mess, and people like you just seem ilin appreciative of everyting. Ive talked to people in salem and swampscott and they all had the same problems on there side roads. Only the main roads were taken care of. My friend in salem was stuck on there st untill sunday night untouched. Theres small roads forgotten in all towns and cities. Your just being overcritical. Its easy to point your finger why dont you try and approach this problem with an open mind rather then how ypu were inconvienced durring one of the 5 biggest storms weve seen. Your entitled to your opinion same as i am i dont have to agree with it and vice versa

Pat, completely agree with you!

Bubba,

Respectfully, the big issue with this storm was the ability to move snow, not just plow it. In the past, the town was able to legally dump the snow into the harbor, or use dump trucks to put it at the beaches. With the environmental hippies now, both of those practices will get the town employees crucified, and all the pissy complainers in this town pissed off. they always need something to bitch about.

If you go to Beverly or Manchester, the state plows and snow removal teams moved the snow to the beaches (legally or illegally, not sure which), which allowed for wider streets and fewer issues. This storm left us with snow and nowhere to put it. You just need to deal, or try and change the laws.

Im all for constructive criticisim, and thank you for appreciation jon H. If someone has a suggestion how to improve ill do what i can. Im just standing ip for my co workers who have been doing the best they can. Not my intentions to be rude if it comes off that way i apologize.

Pat, I know you and your co-workers busted your butts during this storm. As you are on the front-lines, are there any opportunities for improvement that you see? I've heard people walking in the streets was a problem? Someone else said cars parked on the street. Also private plows making a mess of things. Was it just a case of too much snow and not enough trucks, drivers, and time to deal with it all? What about new rules for handling snow? Was it easier to deal with when you used to be able to drop it all in the harbor? Is there still a ban on that? Please help us understand. All I saw and all I know is that my street was a mess and was plowed only once Saturday morning before the snow stopped and then not again until Monday some time while I was at work. I know nothing else about the process, how many trucks were used, or what the challenges were.

Barnegat born:

Where are all of the "good feelings" of the joy of being able to live in such a beautiful, seaside community where people all come together during "record breaking" storms like the one we just had. What an entitled buch of people some of you have become. Don't know who you would complain to if we had received the amount of destruction some of our other americans have recently been through.

The employees of this town are the ONLY people who remove the snow here in M'head. We do not have any state or publically contracted contractors to remove (and or)MOVE all of the snow that we received. It may only take a few hours to accumulate but it takes many, many, more manpower hours to clear and deposit elsewhere.

I for one, am not only grateful for the employees hard work during such a tremendous storm, but am also "thankful" that there are still a few residents who do truly understand the enormity of this storm and the reprecussions of plowing in a town who has many difficult areas to keep passable. If so many of you are unhappy with what was able to be done during this storm, you know where the town line is feel free to go elsewhere. It will be your loss, not this towns'.

Im all for constructive criticisim, and thank you for appreciation jon H. If someone has a suggestion how to improve ill do what i can. Im just standing ip for my co workers who have been doing the best they can. Not my intentions to be rude if it comes off that way i apologize. We had all trucks out there and all hands on deck there was so much snow we couldnt start removing it untill the storm stopped. Thats usually how it works. This was just an overwhelming storm that brought alot of challenges out in the clean up process. Everyone is doing the best they can and trying to remove the snow for future storms and safety purposes. And yes its easier to dump the snow in the harbor. Where else could t go?

Here is a constructive idea, why are there not wing trucks running main lines? There is plenty of width to justify such equipment on each mainline in town.The cost to add a wing when specing out a new truck is minimal and would increase the plowing width of one truck 50% , that with a high discharge main blade instead of these low baker plows they have now would have made the operators lives allot easier and freed up some equipment for other areas.
The snow on the majority of roads I've been down from the swampscott line to village st is a good three to four feet off the curbing and needed to be pushed back, the proper equipment would have made the drivers storm and results a little easier...
As for private snow being thrown in the road and automobiles parked illegally there are laws and fines on the books to enforce,the town has the right to fine and tow period.No excuses!
There was a major breakdown if all of this wasnt happening, and by the sound of it there was a major breakdown if 48hours after the storm the town was still a mess.
The town has some decent equipment, snowblower, sidewalk tractors , loaders, graders etc ,it is too bad they havent continued to support their employees by adding more quality equipment to help make their jobs easier and enforce the existing laws on the books during snow emergencies.

Sideplows is a good idea. The loaders and back hoes all had plows fitted on them and were otherwise being used to help keep the snow off the st. Everyone working was plowing this was a freak storm with alot of snow. I myself think we do a really good job most storms this town has the best roads around. There was alot of snow to deal with this storm and it was only taken care of by dow workers. We dont have help form state or private plow drivers. This saves the town tons of money over the years and normally works cery well i dont think we shoul spend tons of money pottentially putting peoples jobs and budgets in jeopardy for a storm that happens like this every 5 to 10 years. But yes there is always room for improvement.

They real issue today is, Why were the schools open today (Tuesday) ??

The sidewalks were not readied.

Did any of you get to experience Village School drop off ?

A nice policewomen was scurrying the kids held in her hand up the street from the West Shore Dr. Traffic lights up to the school.

On a clear, dry great day Village St. is a nightmare during morning drop off.

My 5th grader was so freaked out by what she was watching that I am having her dismissed early and I am leaving my job early today so I can pick her up before the S--t show begins at 2:15.

I fail to understand once again what the decision makers amongst us are really thinking !!!

School should of been cancelled, i believe thats the school or superintedents decision but i am not positive.

Pat,

What would the town have needed to do a better job? That is what we are asking?

More Plows?
Different Plows?
More People / Contractors?
A place to cart the snow away to?

We the taxpayers can decide if we want to spend the money to be ready for such a big storm. We can also decide if we want to divert funds from one area or another to support whatever needs to be done.

We want you to be able to do an even better job with the right tools - We just need to know what was missing.

So please help us out and let us know.

I think that was just a giant storm, generally speaking the town does a very good job and keeps the cost down on plowing and removal. Maybe sideplows would help, but i dont know for sure.

I would advice anyone, who has a problem with the plowing, to do your homework first. Check out the Salem Patch on how they rated there wonderful plow job. Lol and take a look at lynn iteam to when you are at it. I am sorry for calling Mr.Bubba out but you so called headers have no idea whats goes into a 36hour Blizzard, u cant complain untill you have been there. I Know so go check that Salem patch, then talk to me.

No matter how good of a job you do. Someone always find the need to complain. I really miss the real Marbleheaders in this town, this town used to be a great place to live.

Whip

I don't follow and what it with this yearning for only old Marbleheaders? Town thrive when there is a good mix of experienced homeowners and new community members.

There is no question that the surrounding towns did a better job of clearing their streets. We want to know why? No one thinks it was because the workers were lazy.

My guess is that we are understaffed and under equiped to handle such a storm. So then the question is if we want better service where do we cut spending so we can have adequate coverage and equipment for a major storm.

This reasoning has nothing to do with the longevity in Marblehead of the individual making the case. In fact it might be said that looking at a problem squarely in the eye, and working hard to fix it is in the true old Marbleheader spirit.

Having been here over 15 years and being involved in several government and quasi government areas, I think Marblehead would do well to re-examine some of its birthright arrogance. It creates an unwelcoming town image.

You want proof? Look at how many road signs there are indicating how to get out of Marblehead and so few directing people into our lovely town. Is it any wonder business are struggling in town?

Yes Jon I can understand what you are saying, I just wanted you to look at other towns and cities, look at Salem, patch. You will see they had awfull problems that the State did not do.Big reason why those main roads in Salem are so nice is because they have 4 big trucks with wing blaides on them. THEY ONLY DO THE SAME ST.OVER AND OVER. To be fair look how many sides streets that did not even see a plow. Im have no respect for people that just complain without the facts. Marblehead is in trouble , because nobody helps out anyone. Look when you go to cross the sidewalks. Nobody stops, i was hit at a cross walk down town, because someone was in a hurry.