Thursday, February 21, 2013
The area could get 4 to 8 inches of snow, possibly stretching snow removal budgets, and people's patience, thin.
For the third straight weekend, Somerville is expecting snow, and a snow emergency is likely. The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for the Somerville area. It says "a lot of uncertainty remains given that the storm is still nearly three days in the future." That said, the National Weather Service says, "The storm will bring the potential for heavy wet snow to the region." "There will be the potential for some downed tree limbs and power outages where heavy wet snow occurs," it says. Channel 7, WHDH, was predicting Thursday morning the Somerville area could receive four to eight inches of snow, beginning Saturday night and continuing into Sunday morning. Meanwhile, Somerville has already seen two consecutive …
Saturday, February 16, 2013
The city cites "streets still narrowed by remaining snow banks" and "revised snowfall predictions of from four to eight inches overnight and tomorrow" as the reasons for declaring the snow emergency.
Somerville has declared a snow emergency effective Saturday, Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m., according to a constituent services alert issued by the city Saturday evening. Here's some information about snow emergencies in Somerville: Below is the alert issued by the city of Somerville: Hello, this is Tom Champion from the City of Somerville with important snow emergency information based on rapidly evolving weather forecasts. With many streets still narrowed by remaining snow banks, and with revised snowfall predictions of from four to eight inches overnight and tomorrow, the City will be declaring a snow emergency, effective 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 16th. During snow emergencies, parking is allowed on the odd-numbered side of the street …
Blogger Charlie Denison asks readers to take a survey about parking during the recent blizzard.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Five days after a blizzard hit Somerville, the Home of the Whopper still hadn't shoveled its sidewalk, and one alderman was livid.
Burger King, at 185 Somerville Ave., still hadn't shoveled its sidewalks five days after a blizzard dumped around 28 inches of snow on the city, according to Ward 2 Alderman Maryann Heuston. Heuston was mad. Speaking at a Somerville Board of Aldermen meeting Thursday, she said, "If the average joe" can shovel his sidewalk, Burger King should be able to as well. "A large corporation like Burger King should be ashamed of itself," she said. The Ward 2 alderman said city officials have visited the Burger King and told them to shovel, to no avail. "I would ask people to boycott Burger King until they shovel their sidewalk," Heuston said. She also wants to send a letter to the CEO and regional managers of the fast food corporation. "I've had it …
42.377659
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Burger King
185 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA
/articles/alderman-boycott-burger-king-for-not-shoveling-sidewalk
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Thursday, February 14, 2013
We asked Somerville residents to grade the city's response to the weekend blizzard. The average grade was B.
On Wednesday we asked Somerville Patch readers to grade Somerville's snow response in the wake of an historic blizzard that dumped around 28 inches of snow on Somerville. The final grade: B. Clearly this isn't a scientific result. A number of people had great comments about the city's response to the storm—it's plowing, snow clearing, parking ban and school closures. In the end, 12 people, as of Wednesday evening, gave a concrete grade (A, B-, C+, etc.) I averaged the grades, and the result was 83.75 out of 100, which rounded up is 84, a B. (I describe the numberic grade range below). Interesingly, the breakdown of grades had most people giving the city something in the A range. Five people gave the city a grade in the A range, three gave …
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Trucks haul snow, and mounds pile up in parts of the city.
On Monday and Tuesday, police closed off sections of main roads and squares in Somerville so crews could remove snow. In this video, a wheel loader dumps snow into a truck, one of a handful lined up on Powder House Boulevard to haul away snow. Many of the trucks took their loads to Assembly Square and dumped them on the parcel of land once slated to be an IKEA furnitre warehouse. Here are also some photos of snow mounds in Somerville. Feel free to add your own by clicking "Upload Photos and Video."
A+, B-, D ... or F: Did the city get a passing grade in dealing with the blizzard, or are you ready to flunk the whole class and send the students to summer school.
If you could grade Somerville's response to the February blizzard, what would it be? A, B, C+, F? Did the city remove snow fast enough? What about its decisions about school closures and parking bans? Are you pointing fingers, or do you think, given the severity of the storm, things went relatively smoothly? A number of people have voiced opinions about the city's efforts to clean up after the storm. One commenter on Somerville Patch, Ivan, said, "We should be able to fine the city for failure to remove snow from bus stops, bridges, and public walkways. Volume of snow my foot. More like poor planning and coordination." Mplo agreed. But some people disagreed with him. Warren Dew wrote, "This single snowfall was more than the total for the …
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
"We're working around the clock. Literally around the clock," said a city spokesperson about snow removal efforts.
After deciding Monday to keep Somerville's public schools closed until at least Thursday—to allow workers to clear snow after a weekend blizzard—the city reversed course Tuesday afternoon and declared schools would be open Wednesday. The city also lifted its snow emergency and parking ban, effective Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Tuesday's news came after a short series of decisions and reversals about the parking ban and school cancelations. On Sunday, the city issued an alert telling residents the snow emergency would end Monday at 6 p.m. Then, Monday afternoon, the city changed its mind, saying the snow emergency would remain in effect until future notice and that schools would be closed Tuesday and Wednesday. At about 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, the …
Monday, February 11, 2013
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said crews worked all weekend to clear snow, but streets are still unsafe.
Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said it was a concern for pubic safely, particularly at intersections near schools, that prompted city officials to prolong a snow emergency that was originally supposed to end Monday at 6 p.m. Asked if clearing snow off city streets was taking longer than expected, Curtatone said, "It's a lot of snow." The mayor, speaking on the phone Monday afternoon, made reference to the large mounds of snow lining the city's roadways, often forcing residents to walk in the streets because sidewalks aren't clear. The situation, he said, is a "treacherous public safety challenge." The mayor commended the "hard work" of Department of Public Works employees and independent contractors who have been working to clear snow…
Somerville's snow emergency was originally scheduled to end Monday at 6 p.m.
Somerville's snow emergency, which includes a parking ban, will remain in effect until further notice, according to a constituent services alert from the city. In addition, Somerville's public schools will remain closed through Wednesday, according to a Tweet from the city of Somerville. The city's snow emergency was originally scheduled to end Monday at 6 p.m., but the city sent an alert at about 1:30 p.m. telling residents the snow emergency would, in fact, remain in effect until further notice. Here's the text of the alert: Hello, this is Jackie Rossetti from the City of Somerville with important snow emergency-related information for Monday, February 11th. Due to high snow accumulations and ongoing work to clear public streets and …
Courtney O'Keefe
2:37 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
I hope it's a 7:15pm phone call stating the effective time is 7:30pm, again. That was awesome. more ›