My problem is that when the grader clears the road it leaves a 3ft. tall, 4ft. wide berm of ice chunks in front of my driveway that I must shovel out before I can leave my house. It's a difficult, heavy-lifting job which gets worse if you can't get to it immediately after the plow leaves. And if I try to blast through it I risk getting high-centered.
I have called my county commissioner and after a couple of exchanges, he has handed me off to the county chief engineer whose attitude is that putting a "boot" on the plow blade (to carry the accumulated snow beyond the driveway) is an "expensive luxury."
How is snow removal handled where you live (no comments from those of you in Palm Springs, please) and do you have any solutions to deal with a bureaucrat with an attitude?
This is pretty common. Did you just move there?
Funny you should post this because we're having the same problem in our city. crews used to plow the snow to the center of the street, leaving a big berm, but allowing people to carefully get around and to park in front of their homes. They changed the procedure this year and just plowed right down the center, leaving berms on either side of the street. This MIGHT have been all right, since the snow was fresh, but right after the plowing, the temps dropped to below zero and the hills of snow on either side of the streets froze solid. And I mean SOLID. We're talking WALLS. Thus, those who were parked on the street at the time of the plowing were unable to get their cars out, and those who were off working drove home to find big ridges of hardened snow blocking access to their homes. The city says it is presently "rethinking" the policy, in the wake of numerous complaints and more than a little auto damage as residents tried to deal with the situation. Sheesh.
Try using det cord instead of the car.
Seriously though, it's a no-win situation. I used to try digging out the snow pile in the direction the plow would come, but it doesn't work, and I wound up shoveling twice. These days I try to get to it as soon as possible, before it freezes into ice.
In the snow sense I mean.
Just curious, since I live in Kaleefornia and never been plowed in - how long would it take for a propane tank with a weed burner attachment on it to melt such a wall?
It's going to be 79 degrees and partly cloudy in San Jose, Costa Rica today. One thing you can do while trapped behind your icewall is to surf the internet and see where you wish you lived.
I live in central TX, what is this "snow" of which you speak?
In Wisconsin, the plows would come by and nearly bury your street parked car. At least you HAVE a driveway. :)
One thing that's worked great for me over the years, is to shovel/snowblow all the way across the road, and do so several feet on either side of your property in addition to yours. Then when the plow comes by, the snow he accumulated already will be disposed of before he gets to your property, and when he goes the other way, it will happen the same way.
I'm picturing an ally here, so I don't mean if you have a real road to shovel the snow into someone else's problem. A rural road would be similar I imagine.
The plowing to the center make good sense.
I lived in Spokane, Washington 20 years ago. When the grader came by the driveway, the grader driver dropped a device that held back the snow until he cleared the driveway.
The boot looked something like this
and this
Concerning all of the pain they cause, the local governments should invest.
I used to get up early in another snowy area. Shovel the driveway, go to work. Then come back later, and have to park in the street, while I shoveled out the berm left by the grader.
Occasionally, you will see a grader driver who will back up and take a second swipe at the driveway, pulling the snow beyond.
I have lived in Mass and NY (Buffalo) and this has always been the practice.
I hated it when you shoveled out the bank just to have another plow come and do it again.
It's a normal part of life here in the northeast.
Happens in Lake Tahoe everyday that it snows. The Cal Trans crews couldn't give a rip. In fact it almost seems that if they could they would negotiate the plow so that it would make it as big a berm as possible.
My aunt solved the problem by putting the younger members of the family to work. They didn't have a yard work to do in the winter, so it was snow shoveling instead. My cousin (her son) started his own snow plow business that he just sold.
That might be an option to consider, just hire a snow plow business to keep your driveway clear. They will set up a contract for a flat fee for the snow season. If is barely snows you still pay, if it snows a lot, you are getting your money's worth.
Have you tried writing the new governor? She cares.....
I know, it is a pain in the butt. My father had a quick remedy, barrel up the driveway in the 1968 Buick Wildcat, usually did the trick. B-) Any other car we had would do the trick, a 1966 Mercury, 1966 Chevy, 1961 Ford Galaxie but the 1972 Bel Air we had didn't do so well in the snow. B-) Failing that, unless you have to get somewere, as another Freeper suggested, get the snow blower out after the plow goes by. In my case, my Ford Explorer plays the same role as the Wildcat. B-) It's supposed to snow here in Pittsburgh tomorrow and I got to go to work. Fun......... Well, I shouldn't complain, it's money but the weather is a pain in the butt. B-P
Lived 1 year at Browns Point, WA.-----NE Tacoma
I love my LZ!
You have my condolences... Although we don't get the maassive amounts of snow here in Omaha others may, we still get enough to get ugly for a short time. Same issues, plow comes through the neighborhood and clears 1/2 to 2/3 of street width. Everyone comes out and clears end of driveway. 24 hrs later, here comes the plow again and trys for the "rest of the roadway", getting close but not up to the curb. That is when we get the rolled, icey mass piled 2-3 ft deep at end of drive..
The only thing that has worked on some occasions is when you are out plowing the drive and sidewalks, throw the snow into the yards or ahead of where the plow will run - beyond your drive. I have even gone into the street and plow the snow to the other side of the drive in the direction of travel..
Last resort - find out where the commmisioner lives and see just what the plow operators do at HIS house. We had an issue a few years back with some residential streets never getting plowed and some getting hit 2 - 3 times during a storm.. Come to find out, the streets that were hit often, had council members living on them.. Coincidence - I wonder... Anyway, photos and articles in the paper quickly changed that little "policy"...
Good luck....