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Go absolutely anywhere in our county, and unless you’re talking to a mammal in total hibernation, you’ll start talking about the weather in about two seconds. It has been a harsh, snowy winter, and we’ve all been feeling the weight of it since the beginning of the year.
One of the downsides to this winter and the frosty pummeling we’ve been receiving is that many of the roads in our region, and especially our city, have been pretty bad. Even as I write this, parts of Warren are still very snowy after Sunday’s snowfall. In fact, the roads have been so bad that it has raised questions in my mind about the safety of our city. Put simply, we have to do something about it.
I want to make something clear: I do not think that the plow drivers are to blame, nor am I entirely sure it’s the fault of those who supervise those who plow in our city. I am, however, pretty sure that somewhere in the hierarchy of Warren’s government lurks a problem that needs to be solved, and that problem is a need to get more plows on the roads throughout our city.
I spent half a decade in Chicago and her suburbs, where even small amounts of snow were quickly removed. Very rarely did I drive in Chicagoland on a snow-covered, potentially dangerous road. Save, that is, in 2011, when we had what was called the ”Snowpocalypse,” and got dozens of inches in a short period of time.
What’s been most frustrating to me of late is that I feel like every time it snows it is a ”Snowpocalypse” when I’m driving in Warren – or, at least, certain parts of Warren. While I’m sure there is a system of prioritization in play, it seems that no matter where I go in the city, I find myself wondering if I’ve somehow ended up a few miles north of where the Olympics are being held.
Snow removal is important for at least two reasons. First, if we want to make Warren a city where people want to live, which I assume is what’s driving efforts to refurbish homes and tear down others, we have to make the city livable and drive-able. This simply isn’t the case as it stands now – because residents are, in more than a few cases, practically snowed in.
Second, it’s important to the overall health of our local economy. Without clear roads, consumers will just go where the roads are clearer, and that means businesses downtown suffer.
And, to be completely honest, the reason I’d really like the streets in Warren to be cleared is because I’m giving a chunk of my paycheck to the city, as are many other employees who work downtown. This tax would be easier to stomach if I felt like the roads were cleared with the money I’m pitching in for such things – in addition to police and fire protection, and so on.
In the end, this article is not intended as a rebuke to those who plow or those who supervise the plowing. It’s simply a request to make our roads clearer, which I recognize could be a complex request given finances, personnel and so on; but please, can we re-evaluate our financial priorities to get our streets clearer?
Because winter isn’t over yet. It’s here that a great deal of thanks is due to those who have been hard at work plowing across the region, trying to keep us safe in the midst of a particularly nasty season. Thank you for plowing at all hours, in below-zero temperatures, to help the rest of us get where we need and want to go.
Tennant is a Warren resident. Email him at editorial@tribto-day.com