The situation in NE DC right now is unacceptable. We’ve gone almost 3 weeks without trash pickup. There are reports of DPW workers being hostile to neighbors that have pleaded for trash pickup. Just inexcusable and no one has any real answers for when this will be resolved.
The Department of Public Works continues working to restore full residential trash, recycling, and food waste collections. We recognize some residents are experiencing missed collections, and we understand how frustrating and disruptive the situation is. To address these delays, DPW has activated seasonal employees as part of a dedicated escalation protocol. This will allow us to route 311 service requests more quickly, get teams into the field faster, and operate seven days a week. These teams will run newly created escalation routes, focusing on missed trash and recycling pickups. As this enhanced response continues, residents should keep their cans and household trash at their normal collection point until it is collected. If service is still missed, we encourage residents to submit a 311 request. If a previous request has not been resolved, submitting a new one ensures it is captured in our updated routing system. For households that are now receiving normal collections, continue to place your cans out on the normal collection schedule. Trash and recycling are no longer being collected together, so only put out recycling cans on your normal recycling collection day.
When is this "snowcrete" nonsense going to finally MELT?
Wouldn't surprise us if some of it is still hanging around in MARCH.
The prolonged cold has largely prevented the frozen conglomeration that fell on Sunday from melting, and there’s no sign of a meaningful thaw or rainstorm to erode it anytime soon.
As temperatures moderate next week, some limited melting may occur along the surface of the snowpack — especially on sunnier afternoons. But the concrete-like slabs of snow and ice will refreeze each night when lows fall back into the teens and 20s.
The amount of frozen precipitation that fell Sunday contained water equivalent to roughly a 20-inch snowstorm, but in a far more compacted form. What remains may only be 4 to 6 inches thick, yet it is so dense that it will require a significant amount of heat energy to melt. Unless the region experiences a rapid warmup and/or a soaking rainstorm, much of it could linger well into February.
And those towering piles in parking lots? Some of them may still be around in March.
Photo by Joe Flood