Heavy snow makes for messy cleanup in Twin Cities

Not only was this week's snowstorm one of the largest ever recorded in January — it was also one of the wettest and messiest.

According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the snow that fell in the Twin Cities between Tuesday and Thursday had an unusually high moisture content, which makes for heavy snow.

That's why your muscles may still be sore from shoveling. And it's one of the reasons plows may not have made it to your street until Friday morning, said Sean Kershaw, St. Paul's director of Public Works.

"This snow was so heavy and so deep that it was pushing multi-ton plows away from curbs," Kershaw said. Public works employees, who can often clear residential streets in one or two passes, frequently had to plow the same route three or four times, he added.

Those challenges have drawn little sympathy from frustrated Twin Cities residents. Many took to social media to complain about unplowed streets and sidewalks, questions about parking and mounds of snow blocking visibility at intersections.

On Friday afternoon, St. Paul was on track to finish plowing its snow emergency routes by the end of the day — "later than we want, but it's an unusual storm," Kershaw said.

Around the same time, Minneapolis plows were focused on making additional passes over areas not well-plowed previously — or not plowed at all, such as alleys where stranded vehicles prevented city plows from making it through earlier.

"It's obviously taken longer than with other snow emergencies, not due to a different strategy, but simply due to a tremendous snowstorm," Mayor Jacob Frey said. "We're hoping to be out of the woods and in a good spot this weekend."

On Friday, Minneapolis had a fleet of more than 100 snow-moving vehicles in use. That consists of 63 pieces of heavy equipment — including the city's entire complement of plows — and 40 light-duty equipment such as pickup trucks and Bobcats.

"This is the 14th-biggest snowstorm over two days since the 1880s," Frey said. "So I don't want to use the term unprecedented, but this was an incredibly large storm which forced us to expand our efforts."

From Tuesday to Wednesday afternoon, most all of St. Paul's fleet was focused on keeping the city's major arterial and collector streets clear, Kershaw said.

"We needed to keep them safe and passable for emergency vehicles, and we needed to wait until all of this record-setting snow fell to work on the residential streets," he said.

The delay drew concerns from residents like John Larsen, whose street in St. Paul's Highland Park neighborhood didn't get plowed until Thursday morning. The 24-year-old estimated he helped push out 13 stuck cars since Wednesday.

"Quite frankly, it has been absolute hell trying to navigate getting to work, getting out to groceries, really even walking down the street — even nearly 48 hours after the snowfall started," he said.

Larsen worries about elderly residents who may have struggled to move the heavy snow or push out cars.

"I just feel like there has to be a better way," he said.

Leaders in both cities lauded crews and added the finer parts of snow cleanup will likely continue for days. Minneapolis residents can contact 311 with questions or reports of problem areas, while St. Paulites can email snowemergency@ci.stpaul.mn.us.

"Be patient and kind to our drivers. Help your neighbors out. And email us because we want to get it cleared up," Kershaw said.

"There are two things that bring Minnesotans together," he added. "It's snow and the Vikings, even if we complain about both of them."