Piles Of Snow Lead To Mounting Frustration

WBAL-TV is reporting that snowplow operators are still hard at work days after a record-breaking snowstorm dropped more than 2 feet of snow in the Baltimore area.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said it took the city 17 days to clear the streets after the snowstorms in 2010.

Beginning Wednesday, the city will start fining those who don't clear snow from sidewalks in business districts and gateway corridors.

Ordinarily home to horses, the area around Pimlico Race Track is where the city's big snow removal horsepower is on display. A snowmelter is at work, which can reduce 60 tons of snow to water per hour. It's also where the big snowblower on loan from Boston gets fueled and maintained.

It's part of the city's effort to throw everything it can get at clearing and removing a record amount of snow.

"That equipment is massive and it's very effective, but it's a big blower, so just like you were blowingyour sidewalk, you have to have somewhere to blow the snow. If it is a residential street, we can't use that blower," Rawlings-Blake said.

Few streets are back to normal. The 1400 block of North Fulton Street in west Baltimore has one lane clear. Residents who moved their cars to obey the Snow Emergency Route restriction said they wonder why no plow has been back.

The city said it has 1,400 pieces of equipment in use, most of it at extra cost from the private sector. And the city is looking for more help from private contractors.

"We are continuing to accept equipment as contractors are out there and equipment becomes available. The city of Baltimore remains open to business," said William Johnson, director of the Department of Transportation.

Suburban residents have also complained, saying they've called plenty of times to find out when snowplows are coming, only to get no response.

Clearing the walkway and driveway kept Marie Taylor busy Tuesday in Catonsville, but that didn't take her mind off the street where she lives, which is open at one end, but there's a wall of snow in the center that stretches down the block and beyond, leaving her and her neighbors frustrated.

"Nothing, no plows, nothing. We're still stuck. We haven't seen a plow yet," Taylor said. "No one can get out."

"It has been hectic. This is my first day back home since Friday morning. I haven't been able to get through here. So my job said, 'We're going to get you in.' They got me a vehicle and I got to the end of the road, and my son helped me down," said Schwann McInnis, of Catonsville. "If an emergency happened, what are we going to do? We can't go to the grocery store. It's just a bad situation right now."

"We've been calling. I have elderly residents that live on the block. What I did last night took two hours to cut a path so people could walk out of this block, because we didn't see any snowplows," said Ellis Dawson, of Pikesville.

The sight of a snowplow turned frustration into relief for residents on Crosby Road in Catonsville.

"The gentleman that just came by and cleared our street, I'm loving it. I want to tip him and say thank you for the job you're doing," said Margaret Morris.

Slowly getting back to normal, postal worker Lenny Schwarzmann was making deliveries Tuesday.

"It has been a challenge, but we're doing the best we can trying to get to everybody's house. Hopefully, they'll think of us and not just dig out their driveway, but make their mailboxes accessible to us," Schwarzmann said.

There was at least one problem on Sunday, when a private contractor with 11 pieces of equipment stopped working in the Granite community of Baltimore County because of equipment malfunctions due to the heavy snow. County officials said other equipment has since been sent in.