It is November in Alaska; it will snow again. So what is the Municipality of Anchorage doing to ensure it can effectively clear the roads the next time we receive snow?
For more than a week after snow began falling on Wednesday, Nov. 8, the municipal road-clearing team was unable to keep up with the Muni’s plowing needs. This is a planning failure of the current administration. With climatic changes occurring everywhere, the municipality needs to plan for outlier weather events, including significant snowfall. Indeed, we experienced a similar event last year — significant snowfall that demonstrated the Muni’s road-clearing plan to be insufficient. Why, then, is the Muni not prepared with sufficient drivers and machinery to maintain Anchorage roads this year?
Each day roads remain unplowed, our economy and community suffer — businesses close, workers cannot get to work, schools close, public transportation ceases and more. The economic impacts of uncleared roads are significant.
We need transparent communication from the municipality articulating an effective plan to address road clearing for the next significant snow event because this is Alaska and one thing is for sure, it will snow again.
— Cortney Carman
Anchorage
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