Yesterday, during a meeting at RIDOT hq, Mike Lewis (RIDOT director) explained that state roads aren’t swept during the winter for two basic reasons: (1) the equipment involved includes a water sprayer; that component freezes up in the winter, so the department basically mothballs the street sweepers between fall and spring, and (2) budget constraints mean that the workers that operate the sweepers (and mowers, etc) in the summer are operating snow removal equipment (and other winter road maintenance stuff) during the winter, so there is no staff available. Yes, it is all about the benjamins.
RIDOT does acknowledge that winter is the time of year that cyclists most need the streets swept, due to the purposeful application of sand to the roads. Taking a step toward our needs, Director Lewis asked that we assemble a list of state roads that should receive priority for sweeping once spring comes.
Please help us with this by providing your suggestions. I’ll start with one: Allens Ave. What would you add?
