Bus driver makes case against snow piles

By JIM FOTI, Star Tribune

Last update: March 9, 2008 - 1:27 PM

A heat wave seemed like the only solution, but Tom Noland wasn't willing to wait all winter for one.

Noland is the Metro Transit bus driver who contacted Roadguy back in December to talk about the challenge of dropping off riders amid the snowbanks of downtown Minneapolis. Since then, Noland has tried just about everything he could think of to get more curbs cleared of snow and ice (he stopped short of jackhammering them out himself).

He sent letters to supervisors and the city. He called 311 and got work orders to have specific corners cleared. He posted notices at the bus garage under the name GlacierGuy.

"I think I would rather have a root canal than to retrace my phone calls and correspondence with the city of Minneapolis," he wrote at one point.

Metro Transit removes snow from the park-and-ride lots and downtown bus shelters it owns, but it doesn't have the money or staff to clear other areas, said spokesman Bob Gibbons. Property owners are required to shovel sidewalks but not the snow piled along curbs; the city clears bus stops as workers are available.

Which meant that, months after our first significant snowfall, Noland and other operators would grimace at the obstacles facing their passengers, one of whom went so far as to ask Noland to get out of his seat and lend a hand as she climbed over a snowpile.

While it's too late for major changes this winter, Metro Transit hopes to find some solutions, Gibbons said. The agency has formed a working group to check into problem locations, and staff members are looking into the snow-removal practices of the more than 80 municipalities Metro Transit serves.

The agency is also trying to figure out the cost of removing more snow itself, and whether doing so would be feasible -- no easy task, given the agency's deficit.

Noland has learned that there are no easy answers, and he eased up on his unorthodox efforts as the winter dragged on. But at the breakfast table with some other drivers the week before last, he decided he was tired of the persistent piles at 4th Street and Hennepin Avenue, near ramps that bring buses into the Warehouse District from Interstates 94 and 394.

So he borrowed a cell phone and left a message for Sam Jacobs, director of bus operations, and wound up having a conversation with him this past Monday.

The next day, Noland said, one of his fellow drivers let out a big "Hallelujah." And the exuberant Noland wrote Jacobs a thank-you note:

"With the Tuesday morning sun facing the operators as they made their way down 4th Street today, there was indeed something spiritual about not seeing that menacing snowbank at our first stop. It was a great morning and even greater to be alive."

Transportation thoughts or questions? E-mail roadguy@startribune.com or call 612-673-4491

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