Winter Arrives Drive Safe, Stay Warm, Be Careful

[Jim O'Bryan]

Trucks were out plowing early and often. I personally would like to see them try only plowing
to an inch or half inch.


Downtown Lakewood, moving along just fine.

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[Paul Schrimpf]

do drive carefully ... this seems to be the new normal. Left home at 6:30 from east end and headed east... 5 years ago Detroit would have been just wet. Slick but passable today, no difference from Cleveland side ... and given the salt situation probably what we can expect all winter.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Paul

Funny, you would have enjoyed the discussion this morning over coffee.

But first, the storm, when do you make the call?


Forecasts of less than an inch and at 9:30 a light dusting...


By midnight, snow but nothing crazy, forecast still an inch or so...


7am, crews out most of the night, keeping up with the snow.


10am, snow still falling much harder.


11am still snowing...


Still plowing...



Now then. Salt dome not built, contractor fell behind, but city has salt up on Berea Road ready
for the streets and in the trucks. Trucks on the street. I have seen every truck city truck that
can handle a plow with a plow on it and down. I have not seen salt applied.

BUT

Instead of needing to do it when we have to, now is the time to talk, and this was the talk over
coffee. Use as little salt as possible, only on icey surfaces, and plow roads to an inch? The thought
by all including a couple city workers walking through, "That would save a lot of wear and tear on
the road surfaces." It would be interesting to find out over a couple years, how much money we
can save through less salt, more plowing but not to the road bed, and saving on repairs. I mean
Lakewood carries our trash to the curb to save $2.00 a household, how much can we save learning
how to drive safely?

The lawyer at the table brought up? How much more does car insurance in Lakewood go up when
they realize we are not plowing to the road bed? How much does Lakewood lose in litigation?

I post this as now is the time to talk about it, well July would have been the time. And so many
people said to me "I haven't seen a plow all night..."

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[Paul Schrimpf]

Weird ... I think the east end got more snow earlier than the west end, if that was your snowfall at 9:30 pm in the first picture. On alameda we had 3-4 inches by that time. I heard a plow go down the street around 11 pm. but clearly no salt. breakfast sounds like it was fun!

[Jim O'Bryan]

Weird ... I think the east end got more snow earlier than the west end, if that was your snowfall at 9:30 pm in the first picture. On alameda we had 3-4 inches by that time. I heard a plow go down the street around 11 pm. but clearly no salt. breakfast sounds like it was fun!

the picture is time coded at 9:32pm

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