The City of Alexandria is continuing around-the-clock snow removal operations after last weekend’s winter storm brought an “unprecedented amount of sleet and freezing rain” to the region, City Manager Jim Parajon said.
The storm was “unlike anything that we’ve experienced since the mid-1990s,” Parajon told City Council last night (Tuesday) during a report on Alexandria’s snow preparedness and response efforts. Hours of freezing rain and sleet on top of the city’s 7 inches of snow had limited the effectiveness of plows.
Many roads continue to refreeze overnight, prompting crews to make multiple passes.
“This has been a very unusual and severe and complex winter event for our region,” Parajon said. “We all experienced a significant event that we have not seen in decades. We have not seen sleet of this magnitude for over 30 years, combined with such a prolonged stretch of below-freezing temperatures.”
As of today (Wednesday), primary and secondary streets are 100% passable, while residential streets are 50% passable, Mayor Alyia Gaskins said on social media.
Crews are currently moving into residential streets while continuing to monitor primary and secondary roads. Primary roads like Duke Street — which are critical for emergency services and transit — have received passes “up in the double digits,” said Tarrence Moorer, deputy director at Transportation and Environmental Services.
“We want to make sure that they’re clear, and that not only are they passable, but that they’re safe,” Moorer said.
Alexandria deployed more than 100 pieces of snow removal equipment for the response, operated by more than 200 staff members. The city is working with eight private contractors and 200 contract staff, along with “hundreds of other city employees” behind the scenes, Parajon said.
Bobcats and backhoes have been introduced to address ice removal. Approximately 200 dump trucks full of ice have been removed from Old Town, and another 100 truckloads have been removed from Del Ray.
“That is a unique event,” Parajon said. “That does not happen, and has not happened, in a long, long, long time.”
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, crews were at 80% completion for school clearance routes, including sidewalks and parking lots. Three public parking garages have also reopened along the King Street corridor, and the city had not yet started snow removal on parks.
“We are definitely prioritizing the schools over parks,” Moorer said.
Given the circumstances, Parajon said the city is making “significant progress.” He also acknowledged residents’ frustrations and said the city’s Snow Report tracker is not currently accurate, due to technical issues. Teams are working to fix that, he said.
“We are trying everything possible to recover from this unique and difficult storm event, and will continue to do so until the full recovery is met,” Parajon said.
Council also discussed comparisons to neighboring counties’ responses. As an independent city, Alexandria does not receive snow removal assistance from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Councilman John Taylor Chapman asked if staff could investigate the possibility of partnering for a contract with VDOT in the future.
“Particularly on some of our West End streets that connect with our Fairfax County neighbors, it might be a more efficient use of resources if there is an opportunity to contract with them,” Chapman said. He also suggested a Virginia Paving partnership.
Gaskins said streets bordering other jurisdictions, like Eisenhower Avenue and Van Dorn Street, “could clearly use some additional support.”
“Those are wide enough where those bigger plows and bigger pieces of equipment could go down,” she said. “If there is a way to explore some kind of contracting relationship, I think that’d be great.”
She also expressed interested in future contracts or coordination with homeowners’ associations or their private contractors.
“Hopefully we’re not going to have more events like this,” Gaskins said. “But when we do, how can we mobilize those that might already be familiar with our areas?”
Looking ahead, Parajon said the city is starting to prepare for another potential weekend winter storm. Staffing is a challenge, he said.
“They’ve been working essentially around-the-clock for several days,” Parajon said. “We will probably need to try to bring in more contractors to give some relief, if we do have a storm, say, on Saturday, that is of significant nature.”
Earlier in the meeting, he expressed gratitude to city employees and contractors for their work throughout the past week.
“They’ve been out in the elements, often overnight, operating heavy equipment on icy roads, working extended shifts and responding to as conditions have changed rapidly,” he said. “Their dedication to keeping residents safe deserves our recognition.”
