As D.C. digs out from the weekend’s storm, it wasn’t just plow drivers grinding through long hours. Supervisors directing the city’s snow response also worked around the clock to keep streets passable.
D.C. Department of Public Works Supervisor Ligia Rodriguez said when she’s out in her plow zone, she’s constantly watching for priority trouble spots.
Rodriguez said if she sees “something really, really important to do, like schools, hospitals,” she’ll directs plows there.
After moving to the U.S. from El Salvador more than 20 years ago, she took a job with D.C. DPW and said she hasn’t looked back since. Outside of snow season, Rodriguez can be found behind the wheel of city vehicles, whether it is driving dump trucks, street sweepers or garbage trucks.
But during winter storms, her role shifts. She stays off the trucks and instead drives a white pickup truck through D.C., keeping the plows in her zone on schedule and on track, coordinating drivers and responding to streets in need of attention.
Her tablet shows every truck in her Northwest D.C. zone, including which streets have been treated and which haven’t.
“As soon as the truck comes through and treats the street, we can see that it’s done,” she said.
Citywide, D.C.’s Snow Team deploys more than 500 plows, and that includes a combination of city‑owned rigs, contractors’ plows and rental plows. The operators of the plows work in 12‑hour shifts, 24 hours a day during storms.
This storm brought a tough mix of snow and ice, something Rodriguez said made clearing roads a lot harder.
She said the job can be challenging, especially for the plow operators.
“Sometimes these people … they don’t come back tired. They come back exhausted,” she said.
But even with the long hours and tough conditions, Rodriguez said the crews keep pushing.
“We’re ready, ready to take care of the citizens in the District,” she said.