Snow Job

Two Milwaukee aldermen call city’s snow removal efforts “simply unacceptable”

“The Department of Public Works’ snow removal efforts in the wake of this past weekend’s snowstorm are simply unacceptable,” begins a joint statement from Alderman Khalif J. Rainey and Alderman Russell W. Stamper, II. “Neighborhood streets across the city are a mess, and we are almost 48 hours past the end of the snowfall. Our residents are—AGAIN—fending for themselves as they use their own shovels and snow blowers to dig out from the snow, doing the job that DPW apparently isn’t up to doing!”

The article goes on to note that, "DPW sent out 110 trucks with salt and plows Saturday night and ended up with 270 pieces of equipment on Milwaukee’s roads by Sunday morning.”

Alderman Nic Kovac offered some pushback to the negativity, “Most of the feedback (about DPW’s efforts) is positive, not exclusively. We can always do better, but I think they’ve been doing a good job and most of the feedback I’ve gotten is our crews are working very hard.”

The City of Milwaukee has 1,424 miles of paved streets (7,000 lane miles). Between the roads, parking lots, and sidewalks DPW is responsible for plowing, having most of this cleared 48 hours after over a foot of snow has fallen, doesn't seem to be a bad job on the part of the DPW.

Maybe the aldermen should be sounding the alarm on truly "unacceptable" issues. It's possible the plowing efforts could use some tweaks. What can't? But, based on the amount of snow and the fact that was primarily cleared within 48 hours, plowing does not seem to be a pressing issue the aldermen should be seeking media attention for and releasing joints statements about.