A historic snowfall means a long cleanup. As the dig-out continued on Monday, the city is calling in reinforcements to get the job done.
Two days after the snow stopped falling, Baltimore City and County officials said they were continuing efforts to clear streets. There were indications that some degree of normalcy would begin to return, as Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake indicated city offices will be open. But she delayed the opening until 10 a.m., and allowed liberal leave. She advised private employers to allow residents to work from home, and Baltimore City schools cancelled classes. City services like trash and recycling will also remain suspended on Tuesday.
Rawlings-Blake and Transportation Director William Johnson declined to set a deadline by which they would have all snow removed. Along with plowing snow out, Johnson said a significant portion of the cleanup job also involves breaking up ice and hauling it off. Plus, crews need to dump the snow away from the streets once it is removed. Clearing sidestreets remained especially difficult. The city has a map showing the streets that have not been plowed. Baltimore County officials reported similar issues.
Because of the unprecedented volume of snow, even our plows are finding some streets hard or impossible to plow. ^EA
— Baltimore County (@BaltCoGov) January 25, 2016
To help, Johnson said the city doubled the amount of equipment in the city from 300 to 600 overnight. Help came from places where they’re used to snow like this, such as Upstate New York and Canada.
Rawlings-Blake said a massive snowblower from Boston has also been a huge help.
Snow Blowing along JFX #BaltSnow @MayorSRB pic.twitter.com/pXJ5owIQ9a
— Baltimore City DOT (@BmoreCityDOT) January 25, 2016
Huge @CityOfBoston snowblowing tractor clearing unplowed lanes on I-83S. Nice to see the assist @MayorSRB @yvonnewenger @RectorSun
— Mike Roth (@meeroth) January 25, 2016
On Tuesday, the city expects to enlist the help of two snow melters that will take care of some of the snow.
