BANGOR, Maine — With heavy snowfall all across Maine, plow trucks were out all-day plowing streets and roadways.
Employees at businesses in downtown Bangor said when plow truck drivers push mountains of snow to the edge of sidewalks to clear roads, they simultaneously cause major inconveniences to customers who visit storefronts.
Bangor Public Works director Aaron Houtari said more than 40 plow truck drivers were out plowing streets and curing roads throughout the city on Thursday.
Plow truck drivers prioritize high-traffic roads first, then work their way into residential areas. When clearing roads, plow trucks push snow to the furthest edge of the street, often creating tall snowbanks against sidewalks.
"Unfortunately, snow is bulky and takes up a lot of space," Houtari said.
Although plow trucks drivers keep streets clear throughout the day, employees who work at businesses downtown said the tall mountains of snow that they push against sidewalks block storefronts, making it hard for businesses to maintain clear walking paths for customers.
General manger and lead chef at Grind House Joseph Higgins said the snow crowds his storefront and many others, making it harder for customers to access businesses. Higgins also said the snow takes up parking spaces, which he said is frustrating because parking is already limited in the downtown area.
"We got the mounds right out here in front of the shop," Higgins said. "They can be anywhere from three to five feet high. People, obviously you see them climbing over them to try to cross the street, or they have to walk all the way out into the street in order to get to the other side so they can see the traffic clearly."
Kaitlyn Milan-Bryant, who is a manager at Bagel Central said managers often have to shovel the walkway in front of the restaurant because they usually open before plow truck drivers begin running their routes.
Milan-Bryant said when the trucks come clear the snow, they often push snow back sidewalk, pushing snow onto areas that managers have previously cleared.
She said sometimes customers opt not come in and buy food, because they don't want to climb over the tall snowbanks.
"Normally people go, like, streets over to come in, but on a day like this, nobody's going to do that," Milan-Bryant said.
Higgins said some customers overlook the inconvenience, and go on about their days, but he said others sometimes complain about the high snowbanks and limited parking.
"They are like 'Hey, I really wish there was more parking,' or 'Hey, I spun the block about three or four times in order to find this one spot, and I was really excited,'" he said.
Houtari says even residents share their frustrations about how snow is cleared.
"It's something that not only store owners deal with, but I've received a couple calls from residents today who said, 'I just shoveled my driveway, and your plow came by and pushed all the snow back into it and covered up all the work I just did and now I have to do it again,'" Houtari said.
Despite how annoying businesses say it is to have to get out in bad weather and push snow off of the sidewalk or watch their customers struggle to cross high snowbanks, Houtari said creating snowbanks on the sidewalk to clear roads is just a part of life in Maine.
"The snow has to go somewhere. We have to push it somewhere," Houtari said.
Houtari said during bad storms, plow truck drivers and sidewalk clearers work 32-hour long shifts with few breaks in between.
According to Houtari, road clearing is a two-step process, explaining that the priority is to clear the roads first, and then it usually takes public works employees three to five days to remove snow. He said there is not enough equipment or enough staff to remove snow at the same time that snow is being plowed.
He said he doesn't believe any city or state has the capacity to remove snow as snow is being plowed. To Houtari, the snow-plowing method that his employees use is a necessary evil, and although it creates an inconvenience, the snow on sidewalks eventually melts as it gets warmer.