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Home My WebLink About01-20-17 Public Comment - B. Sinnema - Snow Removal i i i Beth A. Sinnema 3018 Westridge Drive Bozeman MT 59715 January 20, 2017 City of Bozeman Public Works--Streets 814 N. Bozeman Avenue Bozeman MT 59715 Greetings: Generally, I don't care for letters to the Editor that I have seen in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that begin with "Where I come from . . ." because my first thought is usually "If things were so great there, why are you here?" Having moved here from Michigan in December 1981,I feel that I might possibly qualify as a Bozeman- ite and Montanan as opposed to a Michigander. Since moving here,the one issue that continually,year after year, bothers me is snow removal,or the lack thereof. I understand how difficult snow removal is because my husband worked for the State of Montana DOT beginning in 1989,retiring at the end of 2015. It frustrates me that because of the berms of snow left by cars that happened to be parked when a plow goes by, the streets begin to get more narrow every snowstorm. I live at 3018Westridge Drive, one house down from Graf and kitty-corner from a youth shelter on the corner. There are numerous cars parked on the street near our house most of the time, therefore, the berms become horrendous by the time winter is over. I realize with students parking on the streets and multiple car households,this is a problem all over town. I don't understand why people can't use their driveways and garages, but that is another matter entirely! Here comes the "where I come from"part: I grew up in Wyoming,Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids. Beginning in October/November every year, the use of`odd-even' parking went into effect— on odd days, you parked on the odd-numbered side of the street,on even days,you parked on the even-numbered side of the street. y I believe that this remained in effect until April but having been gone so long,I don't exactly remember. Anyway, when all the cars were parked on the odd side, the snowplows could plow to the curb on the even side and vice versa. The side streets remained wide enough to accommodate parking and two lanes of traffic. I don't recall that it was that difficult to follow what are fairly simple restrictions—park on the odd side on an odd-numbered day and the even side on an even-numbered day. Lake-effect snowstorms and blizzards took longer to get streets cleared but nonetheless,they did get cleared. I don't know whether you have ever considered such a snow removal plan but after wondering for 36 j years why the city does not have a better method for clearing the streets, I thought it was time for me offer something that worked well"where I came from". Sincerely, i Y Beth A. Sinnema CC: Bozeman City Commission 121 N. Rouse Avenue a i f}. t