Evening Winter Weather Update
City of Takoma Park street plowing and sidewalk clearing crews made great progress during the day today. Unfortunately, the heavier late afternoon snow showers covered the cleared surfaces.
The Right-of-Way division staff will work again from 6 pm to 6 am tonight, continuing to clear roads and treat areas with a sand/salt mixture. Please note that the temperature is dropping and many roads are very slippery. If you can, please avoid travel on the roads tonight.
It is likely that we will not know until early tomorrow morning if the Federal government will be closed or have a delayed opening due to weather. If the Federal government closes or has a delay in the morning, the City of Takoma Park will follow that decision. We will get the word out through Takoma Park Alert, the website and social media.
On Monday evening, there is a joint meeting scheduled of the City Council and Committee on the Environment. If there are any closings, we will make a decision as to whether or not the meeting should be canceled.
Monday is also a yard waste/Christmas tree collection day. We will do the collections, but please be careful to put materials out in a safe location that can be reached by our Public Works staff. If you can hold onto your yard waste for two weeks (until January 28th since January 21st is the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday), please do so. Regular trash/recycling collections scheduled for Tuesday are expected to take place with no delays.
Providing it stops snowing overnight tonight, all residential sidewalks are to be shoveled by noon Monday. Sidewalks in front of businesses are to be kept clear from 9 am to 5 pm daily. We will be enforcing the City’s laws on shoveling, but we prefer that folks do the shoveling because it’s the right thing to do. Please help your neighbors who may not be able to shovel. We have a wonderfully caring community that helps each other, and we have a commitment to pedestrian safety that, literally, requires many hands to get the work done when the snow falls.
A final note – I am so fortunate to work with so many good City staff that do excellent work. Two twelve-hour nights in a row at work driving snow plows is draining, but our Public Works staff take pride in their skill and their service. Kudos to them for all they do today and every day!
