City of Framingham Expects To Complete Plowing of 90 Miles of Sidewalk By Tuesday Morning

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FRAMINGHAM – The City of Framingham, depending on where the wind blew, received any where from a foot to 18 inches of snow from the Blizzard this past weekend.

There was school on Monday, but some parents were unhappy that not all the bus stops were dug out, and not all the sidewalks were plowed.

The City of Framingham does not plow every sidewalk in the City, but it does have nine major sidewalk routes, near schools, that it prioritizes.

“The City plows approximately 90 miles of sidewalk,” said Acting Framingham Department of Public Works Director William Sedewitz. “We prioritize sidewalks based on school locations and main streets.”

As of Monday morning, “approximately 70% of these 90 miles had been cleared,” said Sedewitz. “Sidewalk crews are currently working and will be here throughout the night. We expect to be substantially complete with sidewalk by tomorrow morning.”

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The School Department has been kept apprised of our progress, said the DPW Director.

“The clearing of sidewalks is a slow, labor and equipment intensive effort that does not normally begin until after the snow has stopped and the roads and city & school parking lots have received sufficient attention,” said Sedewitz.

“Some of our sidewalk equipment is not particularly effective for this type of storm, 17+ inches of snow with significant drifting,” said Sedewitz.

The Acting DPW Dirctor said “we are also limited by personnel as DPW has eighteen vacant positions that would participate in storm response activities. Additional staff were not available for medical and other reasons.”

“Given the size of the storm and available resources, I couldn’t be more impressed by the efforts of the Public Works personnel, along with the assistance provided by the Park & Recreation, Facilities, School, and Fire Department personnel,” said DPW Director Sedewitz.

The City of Framingham had “about 150 City of Framingham and contracted pieces of equipment,” plowing the roads over the weekend during the blizzard, said Framingham High Director Kathryn Ronconi.

Framingham Superintendent of Schools Bob Tremblay said he was appreciative of the efforts of the City and the DPW employees plowing the roads all weekend and having so many of the sidewalks plowed by the time buses rolled through the streets Monday morning.

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