Boston Preparing for Weekend Snow

(NECN: Ally Donnelly, Boston) - Here we go again. The city of Boston is getting ready for another significant snow removal project, and there are many who say the city needs to improve things this time around.

As much as of an extra headache as this snow can be for folks in the suburb, in the city, it can be a whole other kind of nightmare altogether: narrow streets, fewer parking spots, parking bans. This is particularly when the city doesn’t do a stellar job cleaning up the first time.

After taking heat about the city's clean up response during and after the blizzard, the Mayor's office invited media to watch DPW crews fill pot holes in advance of this weekend's storm.

“Our guys are out there finding these things -- people are calling them in and we're filling them as we go along," said Commissioner of Public Works Joanne Massaro.

Jackie O'Connor is less concerned about pot holes and more concerned about snow removal.
"We couldn't even, like, pass at all," she said.

The South End realtor says the city did a good job on the major thoroughfares, but she echoed many residents complaints that side streets were barely touched, even days after the storm.

"It's a big headache for me as far as getting to open houses and driving people around, it was difficult," she said.

"On Nixon Street we had a fire truck stuck for more than six hours," said Boston City Councilor Charles Yancey.

He called for a hearing in front of the council's City, Neighborhood and Veteran's Services Committee. He's demanding answers from the Menino administration -- on what went wrong and what are they doing to stop it from happening again.

“We have to have a system of accountability in city government," he said on the floor of the Council chambers

The hearing was scheduled for March 4, but Yancey said committee chair Sal LaMattina abruptly delayed the hearing saying he wanted to let DPW conduct its own investigation and March 4th didn't give them enough time.

Yancey scoffed.

"It's more than enough time to at least explain what happened and to explain to public that the wrong on solving the problems. I would be shocked to learn that the mayor and his people are trying to avoid this issue."

The Mayor's office says they didn't have anything to do with delaying the hearing and that we should talk to Councilor LaMattina. We went to his office this morning and again at the end of the day, but staffers told us he was in meetings and they would call us back -- they have not.

At a teen jobs event in Faneuil Hall, Mayor Tom Menino told reporters, "There was some issues, no question about it."

Menino was angry that so many side streets weren't plowed in the blizzard and blamed private contractors. He says this storm they'll be more closely monitoring the GPS trackers contractors have in their trucks to make sure they're doing the job they're paid to do. He said, if they aren't where they're supposed to be, "They'll no longer be working for the city of Boston, no longer plowing for us."

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