Essay #3Final Draft

On any given day in the winter, someone can either pull out of their driveway and hear their car scrape on the road, or run into a pile of snow that was neglected to get cleared completely. Snow removal is a huge deal in Fairbanks. But removal of snow tends to become a headache for locals. Some people believe that there is no problems with snow removal in Fairbanks. Although the city of Fairbanks Public Works Department maintains winter roads by plowing snow, and street sanding , there should be a service that better clears access in and out of housing and businesses because it would allow people to safely leave their house, allow better access into parking lots, and prevent damage to vehicles.

Every year Fairbanks North Star Borough, Public Works Department creates a plan for snow removal. Each winter they approximately maintain 260 lane miles of road. There are many roads that need to be maintained in the winter and Public Works does do well maintaining the roads by sanding and removing a good portion of snow, making the roads less bumpy. Although they manage to somewhat clear the local roads, they manage to make some driving for locals more difficult. I have talked to many friends and co-works, who have complained about not being able to leave/enter their driveway; after their road has been plowed. On numerous occasions I have drove down the Cowles to find that half of the lane was not cleared, causing the road to be cut in half. This has made the road dangerous, especially when drivers are not paying attention. In several neighborhoods, that have a driveway that is level with the street, there driveway gets blocked with a snow berm. Keeping in mind that a snow berm can easily be shoveled away, there are people who have disabilities or other difficulties that permit them from being able to shovel away the snow berm. I have one friend who’s driveway is level with the road, and after they plowed their was a snow berm. My friend was very pregnant with twins, so it made it difficult for her to remove the snow. When snow berms are left as they are, they can block fire hydrants, and block access for a emergency vehicle. There are also spots in town, where the turn lane is completely covered, making it dangerous for the driver, and blocking visibility of any cars in the turn lane on the opposite side. As the snow accumulates and gets plowed, it creates a cliff of snow, that forms between the road and driveway. When this happens, any lower profile car is a risk of damage. I also recall one day the public works was removing snow on my street, and left a pile of snow in the middle of the street, as they took a break, thus blocking me from exiting my house. On another occasion they were plowing the street while their was a decent amount of traffic and did not slow down for any traffic.

All of the snow removal issues that I have mentioned can create some sort of danger. Some of these issues are just caused from someone not doing their job correctly. The issue of roads not being completely cleared of snow can be corrected by plowing closer to the gutter. The city could also add a sort of utility, where they can offer a choice to have the city remove any berms outside a house. This could be a monthly public utility bill, for anyone that chooses to use the service. Their should also be people that routinely drive around checking for any blocked fire hydrants, or entry/exit ways. Another way to help snow removal dangers, is to make detours for the traffic so public works can clear the roads safely. By putting more effort into creating jobs that would help solve snow removal, they would solve many problems for locals and create more jobs for the community. Because not everyone is going to believe that they should pay the city to clear out the snow berms left from plowing the roads, making it a utility can solve that issue of people who would rather correct snow removal issues themselves.

Works Cited

City of Fairbanks Public Works Department.