Driving in to work today, I had to come in from Liberty via 152, then 435 South to 35 South, Southwest Trafficway to the Plaza and on to work out 47th Street to Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard, Van Brunt and finally I-70 to Independence.
This gives you an idea of the size of the area--the amount of the city--I covered on my way work. With this much driving experience this morning, I feel I have a pretty good deal idea of the condition of the streets and highways in the area, in spite of not traveling the Kansas side.
And the conclusion for me is that the city of Kansas City still has a lot of work to do in clearing its streets.
The State highway offices did their job, I'd say. All the lanes of 435 and 35 were clear. Naturally, it was when you got in the city that there were--are--issues.
Check this out: Southwest Trafficway was still down to, I'd say, one and a half lanes. This includes the extensions of Madison and Bellview. Naturaly one and a half lanes means, really, one.
To me, considering they are such main business thoroughfares, that's unacceptable.
They were--all of these mentioned streets--just one plow scraping away from being completely clear.
Someone in the street department, either last night or early this morning, should have cleared these for the rush hour this morning, I think, feel and believe.
I'm sure they worked their tails off, so to speak, this weekend, but we still, as a city, weren't ready for the workday and new workweek.
That's unacceptable. That's not how cities are to function and operate.
In their worst cases, the streets weren't safe.
In the best cases, it made getting to work (read: productivity, business and the lifeblood of the city, area and country) less efficient.
On Southwest Trafficway, which I noticed is a declared, official snow route, the cars had remained parked in the street so the crews couldn't clear the streets.
That, too, seems unacceptable.
Again, it's not safe and it should be clear.
47th Street, coming out of the Plaza and going over to Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Van Brunt, was the same way. Still not cleared.
Between this and the big metal plates left on the streets, instead of truly repairing those same streets, seem to point out consistently that our street department doesn't work really well.
We seem to work, as a city.
But not really well, like we ought.
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5 comments:
PFLOW--
With regard to snow removal the answer to your question is, at least for this storm, and in many neighborhoods, no. I know for a fact that on Christmas day and even the day after, police cars, ambulances and even fire trucks were getting stuck in residential neighborhoods. KC city employees may have worked hard to treat roads and streets, but clearly their efforts were not enough to do the job. Whether that is a reflection of a lack of money or a lack of efficiency I don't know. All I know is I saw a lot of snow sit untouched after the storm, and the going was not always easy. Like you say, it impacts productivity.
Thanks for the good post.
shoot, thanks for reading and for the compliment.
I don't think we're totally broke yet, as a city so we should be able to afford decent, efficient snow removal service, wouldn't you think? They haven't had to move lots of this stuff for a few years but we surely still have the equipment to move it. It should purely be a matter of manpower and organization.
You sure did take the long way around. I'm surprised you didn't take 29 to 80 to Denver and then get on 70 eastbound.
You did all that just to get to your job on 47th?
I would assume it's the lack of money. Wasn't snow removal one of the things that was cut from our city budget?
Joe,
I went the way(s) I needed to go to get where I needed to get. (make sense?). Those WERE the shortest routes. However, next time I'll think about I-80 to Denver and back, sure. Thanks.
And work is in Independence.
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