Philadelphia launches paid work program to help clear neighborhoods of snow and ice
As Philadelphia continues to dig out 10 days after a storm that dropped the most snow in a decade, the city is now planning to ramp up its snow removal efforts even more.
Earlier this week, Mayor Cherelle Parker announced 300 "ambassadors" would be brought in as part of an initiative to help clear out residential areas in particular.
Parker said the workers hired for the initiative will focus on ADA ramps and areas near recreation centers, schools and commercial corridors.
Carlton Williams, the city's director of clean and green initiatives, said about 200 members of the Same Day Work and Pay program showed up at 10 rec centers across the city on Tuesday, the first day of the initiative. The workers cleared over 60 blocks around those rec centers and 500 ADA ramps on corners, Williams said.
Partners Uplift and the NOMO Foundation deployed 238 people in 36 hours to do that work, said Orlando Rendon, head of the city's Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity. Rendon said 300 people will be going out on Wednesday to continue that work.
The dig-out process is still going. Workers have been at it for days, gathering snow into trucks and taking it either to a melter brought in from Chicago — which has melted over 4.7 million pounds of snow — or placing it at designated dump locations.
"I invite you to see over 12-foot high piles that are blocks long in many of these locations," Williams said. Finding locations has been part of the challenge with the snow cleanup, he added.
"Years ago, they used to put [snow piles] down at locations like Broad and Washington, right in the middle, heart of the city. But those areas are now developed, and they are no longer available to us," Williams said. "And no, we don't dump snow in the river. As so many people have said, 'Why don't you just dump snow in the river?' That is not an EPA standard. We have to find locations around the city of Philadelphia to place it. So I just want to reiterate why this is taking as long as it takes."
Parker said another challenge the city is facing is the Delaware River, which has been more difficult for ships to navigate due to ice.
"It's actually impacting maritime, ships that are bringing valuable supplies," she said, "That's part of the nucleus of commerce in our region, and it is being impacted right now."
Parker said the streets department is waiting on a resupply of road salt from ships that are being blocked in the river by ice.
"I need you to know that that's also having an impact right now on supply. ... We're tracking their progress closely and investigating other methods of resupply," Parker said.
On Tuesday, the city asked drivers to move their cars off a stretch of South Broad Street as loader vehicles got to work picking up mounds of snow and dumping them into heavy trucks.
"I don't peddle in excuses; we proffer solutions," Parker said. "The storm was followed by an extended stretch of extreme cold...and it did slow up clean up efforts across the city."
For some residents, the help digging out is sorely needed.
"They neglect us," Yolanda Smith, a North Philly resident, said. "Mayor Parker said she's getting it all up. Can she please help us in North Philly, Germantown and Erie Avenue? Can she please do us?"
Parker and Williams were asked how the city prioritizes neighborhoods to plow or lift out snow to be melted. Williams said that data, including volumes of 311 calls, as well as images from the city's real-time cameras, help drive where machinery and crews are sent first.
For this storm, the city brought out almost double the equipment and staffing compared to a normal storm: over 1,000 employees and over 800 pieces of equipment. In most storms, it would be about 450 pieces of equipment being used, Williams said.
"They may not have seen it, but we had the same lifting crews in South Philadelphia that we had in North Philadelphia, we had them in Roxborough, and we had them all throughout the whole city. We look at those neighborhoods and see what the challenges are, and then we address our resources accordingly," Williams said.
"We don't promise perfection. What we do promise is that we won't stop trying to get it done until it's done, and we won't leave any neighborhood behind," Parker added.