Photos: © 2016 StevenGreenPhotography.com licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
In advance of the news the Washington Metro area was expected to receive record snowfall Jan. 22-23, the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) put a Snow Emergency Operation Plan into place.
[VIDEO: Watch our time-lapse footage of the blizzard here!]
In the week leading up to the storm, the BID organized an emergency team of eight Maintenance members of the Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance (SAM) staff to respond. This team, comprised of Tomas Avelar, Rosa Rosales, Michael Winder, Raymond Danzler, Anthony Davenport, John Morton and Maurice Yancy, under the direction of supervisor Mike Williams, Maintenance Services Manager Ronald E. Jones and Deputy Director of Operations David Pollard, began working with BID partners Jan. 22 to clear the DowntownDC BID’s 138-block area of more than 20 inches of snow and continued working through Monday to open Downtown for business Tuesday.
The SAM snow emergency team worked alongside many hardworking crews from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the D.C. Department of Public Works (DPW) as part of the snow removal effort dubbed by the city #DCDigOut. They were joined by staff and contractors from private buildings in the BID. SAMs immediately began working to clear curb cuts, crosswalks and wheelchair ramps in the BID’s core area between 13th and 6th streets NW from New York Avenue down to Pennsylvania Avenue. They cleared snow from 250 wheelchair ramps and worked to keep them clear throughout the DCDigOut.
The SAM team also assisted city crews in clearing snow from about 20 bus shelters.
“Every instance where we have this type of an emergency operation, I am overcome with pride and fulfillment over working with our fine SAM team,” said Jones.
Once ramps were clear in that core area, the SAM team began removing snow from areas surrounding about 150 fire hydrants, 80 multi-space parking meters and a little over 2.5 miles of bicycle lanes in the BID.
The SAMs’ work on bicycle lanes included the portion of the L Street cycletrack in the BID
“The DowntownDC BID is thankful for the efficient and expedient work the city completed to remove a record amount of snow from D.C. and Downtown to help us reopen for business,” said BID Executive Director Neil O. Albert. “I am personally proud of the SAM team’s multi-day effort to support DCDigOut and the measures they took to help residents and businesses return to normalcy and assist commuters with their transportation and safety needs.”
Property owners are required by law to remove snow from sidewalks, wheelchair ramps and steps on and in front of their properties. The SAMs stepped in to remove snow in front of vacant properties.
“The BID and SAM team recognize the outstanding teamwork and efforts of Downtown property and facility managers who responsibly did their part to clear the front of their buildings, sidewalks, ramps and passageways,” said BID Director of Operations Everett D.E. Scruggs. “All in all, it was a great display of planning, dedication and teamwork.”
The streets of Downtown were never without activity during the storm. According to the BID’s pedestrian counters, approximately 8,000 people were out on Saturday, Jan. 23 on the 700 block of 7th Street NW. That number jumped to 11,300 people on Sunday for that block and to 25,000 people on Monday for the same area.