Some residents in New Haven are turning to SeeClickFix as a way to report problems with the snow clean-up.
Unplowed streets, blocked sidewalks, and neighbors not obeying the citywide residential parking ban are some of the issues that have been reported on the digital communications platform.
“It’s been really busy,” SeeClickFix Impact Manager Caroline Smith said, “it always peaks during snow season.”
On Nash Street in New Haven, not everyone followed the city’s parking ban rules of only parking on the even side of the street. That was the focus of one of the nearly 30 snow-related issues reported on SeeClickFix since Thursday’s winter storm.
Most of the cars on Bishop Street did park on the right side of the road, but now they are blocked in by more snow from the plows.
“Wouldn’t it make a whole lot more sense (for two-way streets such as ours) for plows to push the snow toward the odd side of the street?” someone posted on SeeClickFix Friday morning.
Shawn Hopkinson has been out in the New Haven area shoveling for friends and clients since the height of the storm.
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“As long as they’re actually doing something with that information and it’s not just going to an email and being deleted or not looked at, but if it’s something they’re actively using to address problems and fix them I think it’s a great idea for residents to be able to report it,” Hopkinson said.
Someone reported on SeeClickFix that Prospect Avenue by the Main Street Annex in New Haven had not been plowed and was not accessible to emergency vehicles, but by 2:15 pm the street had been cleared.
“Looking on the site today, it looked like about 30 issues have been reported and 21 of those thus far have been acknowledged,” Smith said, “which means that city in some way has indicated to the citizen hey, we’re on it.”
City of New Haven spokesman Laurence Grotheer said he encourages residents to use SeeClickFix, adding it is helpful directing city departments to address neighborhood concerns.
