Providence Snow Costs: Five Times Warwick
Friday, January 21, 2011
The cost of sanding and plowing streets in last week’s major snowstorm cost the City of Providence an estimated $300,000—five times what it cost Warwick, according to data obtained by GoLocalProv.
The storm estimates include the costs of overtime for city plow truck drivers, private vendors, and all the salt and sand. Even though Warwick has more miles to plow than Providence—400 miles to the capital city’s 375—it cost Warwick only $60,000 to clear the roads.
The City of Cranston also ran a comparatively cheaper operation than Providence, spending approximately $172,000 on salting, sanding, and plowing about 300 miles of road.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTIn terms of cost per mile plowed, it took $800 for each mile of road in Providence. In contrast, it cost $573.33 per mile in Cranston and $150 per mile in Warwick.
Why does Providence cost more?
What could account for such a wide gap in costs? One of the biggest factors: how many private plow trucks cities used. In Warwick, the city deployed a total of 90 plows during the storm. Of those, as many as 75 were city owned. In Providence, on the other hand, of the 130 trucks working the storm, less than half, or 60, were city owned. The rest were private vendors.
Private plows may be more expensive in the short term, but in the long run, the city benefits because it does not have to bear the cost of having more full-time employees, said David Ortiz, spokesman for Providence Mayor Angel Taveras.
Robin Schutt, Director of Administration for Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, said it would take a more detailed cost analysis to determine which saves money in the long run—short-term vendors or having more city employees. “It’s not a case of right or wrong, it’s just a case of the cities are set up differently,” Schutt said.
The short-term difference in cost is significant Cranston’s estimate for the storm: the pay for city workers was approximately $25,000 while outside vendors cost the city $115,000, according to Schutt. (The city also spent an additional $30,000 on salt and sand.)
Officials: Providence roads more demanding
The Providence mayor’s office also rejected comparisons with other cities. “Providence is a very dense urban area. What it takes to clear the roads might be different than the suburbs,” Ortiz said.
Former Providence Mayor Joe Paolino agreed. “Providence has something different that all the cities don’t have and that is we have all the hills and all the hospitals,” Paolino said.
As for the higher costs, he said Taveras’ first priority was making sure roads were well plowed in what was his first snowstorm as the mayor. “I don’t think Mayor Taveras wanted to be remembered for blowing his first snowstorm,” Paolino said. “For the first snowstorm, I’m not going to let money get in the way. I think he did a pretty good job.”
Warwick Public Works Director David Picozzi could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
