Cleanup Crews Rid Downtown Of The Big Snow; Madison Public Schools Will Be Closed Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2013

Town officials said all roads should be open as of Tuesday afternoon with at least one lane, and that if there is a road that is not open, that residents should email storminfo@madisonct.org. 

Even with the progress made on road clearing, school and town officials announced that schools would remain closed Tuesday, the third day that schools have been closed for the Blizzard of 2013. 

On Tuesday, First Selectman Fillmore McPherson confirmed that the town has asked contractor Bill Plunkett to "cease and desist" dumping snow from his property on Scotland Road, where Bar Bouchee is located, onto town property and property owned by others. "We have asked him to cease and desist, and we would ask other people who might be considering that to do the same," McPherson said. 

Also on Tuesday, McPherson and the town wrote a letter to U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, asking for their help in convincing FEMA to expand it's 48-hour limit on snow removal reimbursement. The letter is posted with this article as a PDF. 

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As of 5:20 p.m. 

From First Selectman Fillmore McPherson: 

Good evening.  This is Fillmore McPherson, your First Selectman, with blizzard update 5, as of Tuesday, February 12.

We believe that all roads are open as of this afternoon.  Every street has at least one lane open, and mostly two open, so emergency responders can get down all roads.  If this is not the case with your road, please email storminfo@madisonct.org  The Public Works Department and private contractors are now working to clear snow from curb to curb, and to make the intersections safer.  In that regard, the downtown area will be closed for a while this evening starting around 7:30 to allow for snow removal.  Moving on, we will tackle the main roads first and then the side streets. 

I know that it seems like forever that we have been dealing with the snow, but the blizzard ended just a little more than 72 hours ago.  With a three foot snowfall, and 120 miles of town roads, we are dealing with approximately 1.7 million cubic yards of snow.  Thanks for your patience as we work our way through this episode.

Looking ahead, the latest forecast shows from one to four inches of snow Wednesday night.  After what we’ve been through, 1 to 4 inches should be manageable.

In other news, the Food Pantry operated by Madison Community Services will not be open tomorrow.  It will open next Wednesday as scheduled.

Also, the Superintendent of Schools has announced that there will not be school tomorrow.

That’s it for now.  Thank you and drive carefully.

As of 1:30 p.m. 

From First Selectman Fillmore McPherson at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday:

"We are down to the last 4 roads, 3 of which are being worked on now, then the 4th. Then we will start going back to widen."

So, if, by later this afternoon, your road has not been given at least one run through ... email storminfo@madisonct.org ... and tell them you heard that all roads were supposed to be at least passable by now and yours is not. 

Madison Police Chief Jack Drumm said a crew was on their way down to Wall Street early afternoon on Tuesday to clean up Wall Street, New Road and Railroad Avenue, "with a large tractor to remove ice!"

Nearby Guilford also hoped to have all roads cleared by the end of the day on Tuesday, but town and school officials said late Tuesday afternoon that there would be no school in Guilford Tuesday, because the roads were not ready.

Clinton schools planned to be open Tuesday on a two-hour delay. 

In Madison, Temple Beth Tikvah said there would be no religious education. Shoreline Christian School announced it would be closed.