Wilmington still plowing through snow removal duties

Like the State of Delaware, the city of Wilmington also lifted its travel ban Thursday, but Mayor Jim Baker’s office is still asking residents to stay off the streets if they can.

Like the State of Delaware, the city of Wilmington also lifted its travel ban Thursday, but Mayor Jim Baker’s office is still asking residents to stay off the streets if they can.

“For business and commerce and other personal needs, we know travel is occurring,” said the Mayor’s communications director John Rago. “We’re simply asking motorists to be very cautious and do not travel if you don’t have to because our crews are still out on the streets trying to plow.”

Rago is not sure how much longer it will take to completely dig the city out, but says crews are making good progress.

“A lot of the major arteries are OK in the city of Wilmington.  Some of the secondary arteries though are still snow covered,”  according to Rago.   “Overnight, we had relatively few cars traveling and that really gave our crews a chance to get out there with the heavy equipment.  So, we got a big boost last night and will continue to work throughout the day.”

Rago credits the city’s system of snow removal for making the process easier.

“We separate the city into districts and each district has its own snow removal crew and supervisors,” Rago said.  “So, they’re working on a pretty steady basis throughout the city.  We don’t really give one area of the city attention versus another area of the city.”

The only area that Rago says gets special attention is the downtown area.

The city has a new helpline number for anyone with snow removal or plowing issues.  They can call  (302) 576-3879 for the Public Works call center.  It’s different than the number the city had been using the last last few days for non-emergency issues.

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