City Plowers Prepare for Snowy Streets

It might be about time to bust out the boots and pull out the parka, at least if you watch the Department of Public Works for your weather tip-offs.

Cambridge "snow czar" Richard J. Medeiros, superintendent of parks and building operations, says the first snow plows will hit the streets around October 25 for a "dry run," and sign-up for drivers ends Friday.

But the 26-year veteran of Cambridge snow removal says he does not expect serious white stuff until December, barring a "sneaky one" around Thanksgiving.

The amount will likely be somewhere around the average 42 inches this year, barring a freak occurance like last year's 90-inch total of the white stuff.

But Medeiros says the public has not idea what complex efforts are involved in getting those 42 inches off the streets. Cambridge is divided into 10 snow routes, he said, and main roads like Mass. Ave. come first so emergency vehicles can get through after the snow removal.

When the first snowflake hits the ground, Medeiros calls in the salter brigade, a fleet of vehicles charged with sprinkling Cambridge pavements with salt to keep snow from freezing.

The salters are also the first stage of the snow removal process.

They are equipped with a set of blades which scrapes any snow which stacks up to under six inches, he said.

Snow over six inches gets the heavy stuff: the posse of plows hits the streets.

"We work with temperature, and we work with accumulation, how much snow is coming down per hour," said Medeiros.

The salters also put down calcium chloride, which works at lower temperatures than salt.

For the secondary or side streets, they use pickled sand--a mixture of salt and sand--which helps provide traction.

But Medeiros says the most annoying aspect is an over-helpful citizenry.

"It gets real crazy out there," said Medeiros. The public gets mad when we plow their cars in, and "we don't appreciate people shoveling out their cars and putting snow back on the street."

Another perennial concern for the snow squad, as for any city department, is its budget.

The budget allocation for snow removal, which includes the purchase of sand and salt and payment for snow contractors is $172,000, said Paul F. Langley of the city business manager's office.

Medeiros said that last year, snow removal costs totaled $235,000.

The cost was much higher than usual last year--the year of the blizzards--because the contractors are paid by the hour, Langley said.

The money shortage was made up "out of other budget appropriations," Langley said.

And despite the enormous increase in snowfall last year, the budget allocation remains the same this year, as it has for the past 10 years.