It’s okay, Bismarck; the sand is safe

safe_sand_28754I just got done running a bunch of errands for my wife and myself, from Menards to south Walmart and points in between.  I’m glad to count myself not among one of the unlucky drivers rammed by an out-of-state “new arrival” winter driving noob, or who kissed a curb because a seemingly innocent looking turning lane was actually a rocket chute to disaster, or who realized that being able to brake or turn safely is a privilege not always available to everyone.  No, I was one of the lucky drivers who was able to drift around town in four wheel drive with my Spidey sense tingling but made it home intact.

I had to run to the south Walmart in my travels, so I thought I’d inspect the Public Works building on South 26th Street to see what kind of preparations were underway.  After all, tomorrow morning brings the start of a busy work week, and seemingly every intersection in town has been glazed to Zamboni-esque perfection.  As you can see above, those responsible for making things safe for local drivers must be tucked snugly away with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads or something.

It was maddening to see absolutely ZERO sand or gravel applied to major intersections. For example, the top of 9th Street – where one turns onto State Street to continue north – had a particular mirror-like sheen that made the right turn extremely treacherous, and doing so without either ramming a curb or drifting into the adjacent lane a feat of skill.  Then to see that apparently nobody’s gearing up to do it later is infuriating.  Crashing is dangerous and expensive.

This reminds me of when I left Bismarck to attend NDSU.  I looked outside in astonishment that the City of Fargo was actually plowing the streets while it was still snowing!  I’d never seen anything like that.  No matter how bad and impassible Bismarck roads seem to get, it becomes apparent that someone must make the decision to keep all snow removal assets in the garage until the snow stops.  After all, we’d hate to have to clear a street twice, wouldn’t we?

Watch out in the morning.  You’ve been warned.

5 thoughts on “It’s okay, Bismarck; the sand is safe

  1. So you would be happier if the public works department would all be gathered around the sand pile? I don’t see many sanders, plows, or maintainers in the picture, wonder where they are. You aren’t suggesting public works buried them in the sand like Tonka trucks are you?

    It is so easy to pick an issue like this and immediately find fault. Of course you know how many miles of roadway are in Bismarck and exactly how much sand is required and how much overtime has to be paid. No? Then how about instead of just bitching about another goverent failure, you take a moment and get some facts and then you can bitch if you think your tax dollars are being wasted.

  2. The bottom of Burnt Boat Drive is glare ice too. That’s fun to slid onto River Road during rush hour. I too remember Fargo actually cleaning streets during snow. Didn’t Bismarck have some stupid rule that they wouldn’t plow roads until we had 6 or more inches of snow. I’m SO happy to see my taxes go to snow removal….NOT!

  3. The rhetoric that Fargo plows while it’s still snowing and Bismarck does not is nonsense. And “seemingly every intersection” has been “glazed to Zamboni-esque perfection” is quite an overstatement. Other than that, I am in agreement that some main intersections in Bismarck could have used some attention over the weekend.

    I personally did not have many issues when in 2wd as long as I drove the proper speed given the road condition, which meant making some corners at 2-3 mph or even idling speed.

  4. To the original person that posted this blog:

    Did you take a picture of the sand pile at the beginning of the season? Obviously not! Because that tent was full! therefore, the city of bismarck is sanding, and you should have your facts straight before you post some big blog about the city not doing there job!

    They are out there sanding, but it would be impossible for them to sand every intersection at the same time. So just because you were on one part of town and went through a few intersections that did not appear to have sand, that doesn’t mean the rest of the town was not sanded. Did they take yesterday off because it was Sunday?? ohh well if they did!

    They have been working non stop to keep caught up with this cold weather, it doesn’t matter how much sand you put on top of and inch of ice, it is not going to stay in that intersection forever. it gets tracked in peoples tires and it blows away. Could they have done a better job? yea they probably could. Could you do better at your job occasionally? yea I’m sure you could!

    So before you go and judge the city of bismarck, you should make sure your facts are straight before you post something like this.

    And for the part of clearing the street after the snow is done.
    Do you have any idea what it takes or how long it takes to clean the street in Bismarck? No obviously you don’t. Did we get that much snow that they needed to be cleaned while it was still snowing? NO! If it was forcasted to snow say 12″ or something big, yes they would have been out cleaning emergency roads etc, while it was snowing. Not to mention how much money it cost!!

    p.s.
    I do not work for the city of bismarck,
    i just don’t like reading stuff that mocks something or somebody when you don’t have your facts straight!

  5. To address some of the comments:

    • I didn’t expect the place to be a virtual ant colony of activity; however, you’d think some trucks would be getting staged given the condition of the roads.
    • It doesn’t matter if the thing was completely full of sand at the beginning of the season. Last night the roads were awful.
    • I went from one end of Bismarck to the other, then back again, using major roads that are snow emergency routes and receive heavy traffic. If the trucks were out, those would have been the first intersections to receive attention. They had not.
    • There’s simply no excuse for major intersections to be in such poor condition. For much of my life I’ve worked jobs where I’ve been expected to rush in on my days off when things go sideways. That’s the nature of the business. It’s what we expect from the public works folks too.
    • I took my kiddos out for tacos tonight and we saw a couple of trucks with sanders drive by. Perhaps there was some merit to the observation that the roads were in poor condition. Based on the way this took off on Facebook and my web stats, I’d say that there are plenty of others who agreed with my assessment.

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