Worcester resident Angela Stockdale is already dreading the possibility of heavy snow this weekend, and her city’s past performance in snow cleanup isn’t helping.
The National Weather Service on Thursday issued a winter storm watch for Worcester County and 12 other counties in the state, with forecasts predicting the possibility for a foot of snow.
In early 2025, a winter storm left the city’s roads covered in uneven ice with residents complaining about the conditions five days after the storm.
City Manager Eric D. Batista admitted the city “missed the mark” in addressing last year’s ice storm and said the city needed to improve operations.
Stockdale lives on Columbia Street, a steep road where cars slide down on ice during winter storms, she said.
She told MassLive she has three buckets of salt to de-ice the roads after the storm — triple the amount she typically uses for a normal snow event.
“We haven’t had this much snow in a long time and I can’t imagine the city is going to be able to clean up properly for a few days,” she said.
As Worcester faces another major storm, Worcester DPW Commissioner John Westerling said the department has received 44 new pieces of plow equipment and a new salt brine system to treat roads before rain or snow storms since the city’s failures one year ago.
In terms of snowplow drivers, Westerling said there are 300 privately contracted plowers and 45 city plows — about the same the department had last year, he noted.
A parking ban will also be declared depending on the time the snow starts, Westerling said.
“We are watching the forecast and when it’s appropriate, we will put our forces out on the streets,” he said.
Westerling said one of the main priorities for the snow plowers is to make sure emergency vehicles can get through the streets.
He added that clearing the bus routes is also a priority. Once the main routes are taken care of, the plowers will shovel side roads, according to Westerling.
“We do the best that we can with the resources that are available at the time,” he said. “If there were some streets that we couldn’t get to in a timely fashion, that’s a reflection of what the conditions were and how many people were available.”
But some Worcester residents are unsure the DPW has what it takes to handle this storm.
“Some of its (Worcester’s) neighborhoods are labyrinths of ancient streets that were never designed for cars at all,” said resident Jim Miller. “Many of the neighborhoods are small, meaning DPW has a lot of ground to cover.”
Rachel Mullins-Maxwell, another Worcester resident, said she and her husband are terrified to drive when it snows on their street.
Mullins-Maxwell said her husband’s vehicle slid into a tree in December due to the roads not being salted or plowed. The two were without a car for months and needed to pay for repairs, she said.
“Now, we are completely terrified to drive every time it snows because it feels like the salting and plowing of our hill as well as many others is an after-thought,” she said. “Not to mention that our hill meets a very busy street that has quite a few bus stops and schools.”
Matthew Noe, a Worcester resident who lives on Franklin Street, said the streets in the downtown area are plowed for the most part but felt that response times from the city could be faster. He added that there should also be more focus on clearing the sidewalks.
“I get that clearing the road is important but if that clearing piles up snow into sidewalk embankments, making it so people with mobility issues can’t get on or off the sidewalk, that’s a huge problem,” Noe said.
Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty told MassLive on Thursday he is confident in the DPW’s ability to clean up after the storm and the department would be able to clean up the hills.
“As long as everyone shows up, they are going to be ready,” Petty said.
As for Stockdale, she’s hoping she will be able to get out of her home once the snow stops.
“My hope that they plow more than once,” she said. “My fear I’ll be stuck at home until they do.”
