 |
Stories from the NFCCA Newsletter, the “Northwood News” |
|
Stories from the NFCCA Newsletter, the “Northwood News” |
It was fire prevention and safety first, but snow removal was a topic of much opinion at February’s Civic Association meeting.
A spokesperson from the fire department began by discussing safety at home. Leaving something on the stove unattended is one of the most frequent causes of a fire at home. (And don’t try to out grease fires in the kitchen with water!)
He reminded us of the importance of having smoke detectors installed and with fresh batteries; the lack of them is a great concern to the fire department. Smoking in bed was listed as the other cause of most house fires.
He also named two ways residents can prevent fires and help emergency responders during heavy snow. First, clear a path around and to fire hydrants in your area. Fire hydrants are often buried in snow and this increases the time before a hydrant becomes located and accessible in the event of an emergency. Two, clear snow from outdoor units such as A/C units and generators and vents, such as dryer vents. Make sure that snow is not blocking exits, including egress windows.
Snow removal was also addressed by MCDOT (Montgomery County Department of Transportation) Public Outreach Manager Josh Faust. Despite the long wait for many side streets to be cleared, Faust explained that roads are “made passable” in certain waves. The next wave of roads cannot be cleared until all roads assigned to the previous wave have been marked as complete. MCDOT does its best to distribute the number of plows available in each area according to these waves which target emergency roads first and get to side streets last.
He also explained the difficulty in coordinating the plowing of roads at intersections of county roads and state highways, roads that cannot be touched by MCDOT plows. It was all hands on deck: salt was in place and plows were recruited from other states in preparation for January’s storm. It is important to note that, even if your street has been plowed, it is still illegal to drive a vehicle without snow tires or chains on a designated snow emergency route (such as Dennis Ave.) when a snow emergency has been declared.
Overall, it seems that, in this case, the County actually did its best to get residents back on the road. According to Faust, it costs the county $1 million per inch of snow to do it!
Even free of snow, the roads in our area have seen better days. Following a presentation on neighborhood potholes by At Large Board Member David Rotenstein, Faust distributed a map of the Northwood area, with roads marked from “failed” to “good.” That most of our streets are designated as “poor” was not a surprise; however, the second MCDOT project map brought a wave of interest: resurfacing will begin this summer! He explained that the last time our area was passed over for road repairs the budget ran out. This time we are slated for the beginning of Fiscal Year 2017 which starts this summer, so funds do no not run the risk of disappearing.
There are three phases set for Northwood Park. All are HMA (Hot Mix Asphalt) and, we are assured, not minor patching, although some streets will have large portions cut out and replaced. The first two phases are set for this summer and the third for FY22.
MCDOT is currently coordinating with Montgomery County utility companies to prevent roads from being torn up the moment resurfacing has been completed. If utility companies fail to make repairs prior to resurfacing, they cannot disrupt newly paved roads for a certain number of years. This applies to general maintenance only and excludes “emergency repairs,” so fingers crossed all around!
[This story was inadvertently left out of the April issue. Ibici lives on Royalton Road.] ■
© 2016 NFCCA [Source: https://nfcca.org/news/nn201606d.html]