Boston Has Tons of Salt Ready for Snowstorm

The Department of Public Works started with more than 30,000 tons of salt this winter, and have only used a couple thousand so far.

  Boston has tons of salt ready to use for this weekend's snowstorm. The city started off with more than 30,000 tons of salt this winter and has only used a couple thousand, even after the Blizzard of 2013. And Boston sanders, plows, trucks and contracted winter workers are only using salt, or a mixture of salt and water. Business owners in West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain's Centre Street have often heard complaints about snow melt products through the years.  Some residents, like in the South End, are upset and believe that some pets' feet are getting hurt by winter products being used on sidewalks.  "The city uses salt or a mixture of salt and water called brine," said John Guilfoil, spokesperson for the Mayor's Press Office.  Guilfoil …

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William Brokhof

8:50 am on Friday, February 22, 2013

I've always been really curious about the impact of all the salt Boston drops, environmentally. What happens to all that salt when it washes off? How does it effect plants and animals? Why don't we use sand?   more ›

How Much Snow Will Jamaica Plain Get?

After days of wildly different predictions, the area's forecast is beginning to take shape.

  All the experts agree: It’s going to snow in Boston this weekend. But how much and when the snow will start seems to be up in the air. Depending on whose map you used on Wednesday, Boston was in for either a few inches or a foot of heavy, wet snow. By Thursday morning, however, all of the local news broadcasts started to fall in line on the same theme: The rain will linger along the coast and spare Boston from the heaviest snowfall totals. Here’s a look at the forecasts from the different local news station meteorologists. All these totals were updated Thursday morning: WHDH (7 News): 4-8 inches WLVI (NewsCenter 5): 4-8 inches WBZ (CBS Local): 4-8 inches WFXT (MyFox Boston): 4-8 inches along the immediate coast, but a potential for over …

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JP Readers React to Parking Space Saving

The comments about whether you should be able to save an on-street parking space in winter have been pouring in.

The debate about whether it's OK to save your on-street parking space in Jamaica Plain during the winter months rages on. Here are a few of the dozens of comments JP Patch received over the past week. Jerry O'Connor writes: "I have always been somewhat perplexed, and mildly curious, about this phenomenon. People say "I dug that space out" as if they had excavated a flat space out of a hillside, like a prairie homesteader." Though most people agreed the practice is unfair, a few readers said they like the idea. Zooloo writes: "THIS is a GREAT idea! Then people can have their spots when they come back! I am SO AGAINST residential parking permits!" Reader Scott offered his own solution: "Bring Resident Parking to all of JP and it will solve …

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Is Your Sidewalk Still Snowed Under?

The streets are looking better, but what about the sidewalks?

Though the streets in Jamaica Plain are looking better, some sidewalks in the community are still snowed under. Robin (@caulkthewagon) tweeted Thursday "97 Green St, Jamaica Plain. Heavy pedestrian and car traffic here: very dangerous unshoveled sidewalk" along with a photo. How's your sidewalk?

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Is it OK to Save a Parking Space in JP?

Legally, there's no basis for parking spot saving, but: is this a neighborhood rule where you live? Do you abide by the "he who dug it" code?

Is it OK to Save a Parking Space in JP?

Legally, there's no basis for parking spot saving, but: is this a neighborhood rule where you live? Do you abide by the "he who dug it" code?

Is It Cool to Save a Parking Spot in JP?

Chairs and other objects always pop up in shoveled-out spots after each snowstorm. Legally, there's no basis for it, but: is this a neighborhood rule where you live? Do you abide by the "he who dug it" code?

  Police have responded to numerous reports this week of neighbors fighting over one of the city's 'hottest' post-blizzard commodities: on-street parking.  While there's no legal basis for the practice, residents will often leave identifying markers in the parking spaces they've spent hours digging out. As the city's emergency lots closed Monday morning, though, some residents seemed to ignore the informal rule.  Readers, we wanted to ask you: is this an unspoken rule in your neighborhood? Have you ever had a parking spot marker ignored? Taken another's space in a fit of desperation?  Share your story and opinion with other readers in our comment section below.  

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