The city has made crucial steps forward in traffic enforcement, argue a D.C. Councilmember and a local advocate. Congress threatens to take us backward.
After a January storm dumped more than eight inches of snow and sleet on D.C., it took weeks for the city to clear what officials were referring to as “snowcrete,” a clever moniker that helped highlight how challenging the resulting icy mix was to deal with.
Now we know how much that effort cost, literally.
Three D.C. agencies spent a combined $67.2 million to plow and haul hundreds of tons of snow in the wake of the storm. The Department of Public Works, the main agency in charge of snow cleanup, alone spent some $50.4 million, seven times the amount budgeted for the entire winter season.
The total price tag stands among the most money D.C. has spent to clean up after a winter storm over the last two decades. After 2016’s Winter Storm Jonas (otherwise known as Snowzilla) dumped almost two feet of snow on the city, the snow-removal operation cost roughly $41 million, or some $57 million in today’s dollars.
D.C. officials say a large part of the expense this year came from the distinct nature of what the city experienced.
“The water equivalent was basically a 20-inch blizzard, and we had extremely freezing temperatures for at least 10 days,” says Jenny Reed, D.C.’s deputy city administrator. “That really changed how we were able to move the snow. It developed into that snowcrete that became harder to move without specialized equipment.”
According to information provided by DPW, the agency’s spending covered the usual salt purchases; hundreds of contract plows to complement D.C. crews; lodging, food, and fuel for workers; and overtime costs.
But the agency also spent $19 million to scoop and haul piles of snowcrete to designated locations where it wouldn’t block streets and sidewalks, including parking lots outside RFK, United Medical Center, and Carter Barron Amphitheatre. Reed says crews hauled roughly 900 truckloads – the equivalent of three-and-a-half Olympic-size swimming pools – to those lots. (The last time D.C. ran such an operation was after the 2016 storm, but it was on a smaller scale.)
And the biggest single expense D.C. incurred was $20 million for a first-of-its-kind operation to use Bobcats to clear paths into alleyways so DPW crews could resume trash and recycling collection.
The D.C. Department of General Services – which is responsible for clearing ice and snow outside D.C. buildings like schools and recreation centers – spent another $11.1 million to buy salt and contract plows, while the D.C. Department of Transportation spent $5.7 million of its own to help clear sidewalks and bus shelters and to scoop and haul snow.
D.C. wasn’t alone in seeing a significant price tag for the cleanup efforts; shortly after the storm, elected officials in Philadelphia estimated that their own spending would top $60 million.
Still, some city officials remain critical of D.C.’s response to the storm. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson called the $67.2 million price tag for the cleanup efforts “obscene.”
“Government officials have a responsibility to manage the treasury responsibly. It was clear to me there was not a plan for how to deal with a snowfall like that,” he told The 51st. “What I also saw was that after streets were finally cleared, the city was spending money to clear them again, clear them wider, or clear them in ways that apparently cost an awful lot of money and were not reflecting complaints we were hearing. About five days after the snowfall, the city finally figured out it was unable to collect trash in alleys, so it had to deal with alleys. That was not planned.”
It has even become a campaign issue in the mayoral race, with a number of candidates hoping to succeed Mayor Muriel Bowser pledging to clean up more quickly once the next snowstorm hits. (Be careful what you promise D.C. residents.)
Reed says the changing forecast made it difficult to plan for a full response, and that even when the storm had passed, city officials and crews had to pivot quickly once they realized their usual equipment wouldn’t work with the heavier snowcrete.
The majority of the $67.2 million is being paid out of the city’s contingency funds for emergencies, since DPW’s snow-removal budget for the past winter season was just $7.3 million (in line with where it had been in years past). D.C. averages between 13 and 15 inches of snow per year, though the totals can vary wildly by year. There were 12.3 inches of snow during the winter of 2021-22, and just under a half-inch the following season.
“Obviously, we want faster removal, and we want more cost-effective removal. It is a balancing act between over-investing and under-investing, because we are not in a position nor should we be setting aside funds we may not need,” said Ward 1 Councilmember Brianne Nadeau, who chairs the council’s committee on public works. “I think there is plenty of oversight to be done, and having the numbers is the starting point.”
After 2016’s blizzard, the D.C. auditor published a report criticizing Bowser’s administration for spending $41 million on the cleanup, saying that the city didn’t do enough work to negotiate better prices with contractors and incurred unnecessary fees and surcharges when using city credit cards to pay for services.
One possible hiccup in the cleanup after this year’s storm involves District Logistics, a D.C.-based trucking company that city records indicate was paid $4.5 million to help clear and haul snow.
Robert Terrell, the owner of the company, was indicted in November for allegedly defrauding the federal government of $1.85 million in COVID-era aid, and using that money to trade stocks and gamble. (There was no response to an email or phone call to the company this week; he has been representing himself in court, so he has no attorney listed to speak on his behalf. Terrell recently had his bond revoked and is in custody.)
Nate Alex, a Silver Spring-based trucker, says that he and at least 100 other truckers who worked as subcontractors have yet to be paid by District Logistics. Alex recently told Nadeau that he’s owed at least $400,000. “Nobody has been paid yet. It’s been four months,” he told The 51st this week.
DPW, which handles the snow-removal contracts, did not respond to The 51st’s inquiries about District Logistics.
More broadly, Reed says that the emergency nature of the situation after January’s storm means that D.C. may have paid a premium for contractors and equipment. “Sometimes when you’re in an emergency, you’re at the whims of what the market will give you,” she says. “When you need several Bobcats and it was something you hadn’t been planning on, you probably will be paying more.”
But she says the administration has learned lessons from the storm and is considering investing in some smaller specialized equipment that could more easily clear snow and ice on narrow residential roads and in alleys. Reed also says D.C. will improve its snowplow tracker, which she conceded – as many residents had complained – didn’t work very well.
Most of this, though, will be passed on to the next mayor, who will take office in January 2027 – prime snowstorm season. As happened to newly elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a major storm “can be one of the first things an administration faces,” says Reed, sounding almost relieved to pass the baton. “It’s not easy.”
Martin is a longtime reporter and editor in D.C. He formerly worked for WAMU 88.5 and DCist.com, and has contributed to the Washington City Paper and other publications. He's been in D.C. for 25 years, and tries to ride his bike everywhere he can.
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