Providence City Council and DPW Discuss Snow Removal Operations - February 3, 2026
Providence City Council and DPW Discuss Snow Removal and Salting - February 3, 2026
The Providence City Council held a discussion meeting with the Department of Public Works (DPW) on February 3, 2026, to review the city’s response to the major snowstorm that began on Sunday, January 25, 2026. DPW Director Patricia Coinfing provided an extensive overview of operations, challenges, and plans for improvement.
Discussion Items
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Snow Operations Overview: Director Coinfing described pre-treatment starting at 5 a.m. Sunday, with all DPW hands called in by 10 a.m. The city deployed over 60 city vehicles and 30 vendor vehicles, 30 inspectors (two per ward), and had just under 100 vehicles total. The storm featured snowfall rates of up to 2 inches per hour and whiteout conditions. After the storm, temperatures dropped to the teens and single digits, making cleanup extremely difficult. DPW contracted snow haulers and removed over 1,200 truckloads of snow from commercial corridors.
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Inspector and Vendor Management: Inspectors are city employees assigned to monitor plowing. The director acknowledged the need for improved inspector accountability. Vendor trucks are mostly smaller pickups, and despite increased rates, attracting larger trucks remains a challenge. The city has six new large plows on order but not expected until October.
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Communication and 311: Several council members reported that constituents had difficulty reaching 311 or receiving timely responses. The director noted 311 is the preferred channel but acknowledged issues. She committed to improving communication, suggesting a dedicated DPW community liaison.
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Parking Ban and Towing: Nearly 300 cars were towed and 400 tickets issued during the parking ban. The ban was lifted Tuesday morning; some council members questioned the timing and suggested DPW should have more influence on such decisions.
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Sidewalks, Bike Lanes, and Schools: The director outlined prioritization: first main roads, hills, hospital routes, school routes, and trash routes; then secondary streets; bike lanes and sidewalks are lower priority but being addressed. Parks and property departments assist with sidewalk clearing. PPSD is responsible for school sidewalks; DPW coordinated with them.
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Street Widening: DPW plans to widen streets overnight starting at midnight to minimize traffic disruption, though this may disturb sidewalks and driveway aprons.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken, but the council and DPW agreed on several action items:
- DPW will continue widening streets and removing snow, focusing on the most problematic areas.
- Director Coinfing committed to exploring improvements in inspector accountability, vendor recruitment, fleet upgrades, and communication with the council and public.
- A community liaison position for DPW will be considered in future budget discussions.
- DPW will work to improve coordination with the council during snow events and to address issues with the 311 system.
The meeting adjourned with a motion to adjourn, seconded, and approved.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. Uh good evening, everyone. This is uh a meeting for discussion between DPW and the public in the city of Providence because they're looking for answers. We have to call the role. What's going on? So I had to call the role. Can you call the role, Madame Clerk, please? Thank you. Chairman Vogas. Present. Vice Chairman Sanchez. Councilman Espinal. President. Council Justin Royus is absent. Councilman Anavagas is absent. You have three present, two absent. We do have a quorum. Thank you. Um Madame Claire, may you please read item one? Item one discussion relative to snow removal and salting. The following have been invited. Patricia Coinfing, Director of Public Works, Sal Solomon, Superintendent Highway Department, Richard Perilla, Deputy Superintendent of Highway. Brandon Olson, associate director of environmental services. Thank you very much. I want to say welcome to my colleagues. I want to take note the councilwoman Anna Vargas is here. So noted. So today yes. Can everybody raise your right hand? Please do you swear to under penalty and project that the testimony they're about to give us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Please state your full name and your title for the record, please. My name is Patricia Coin Feig, I'm the director of the Department of Public Works and Providence. David Mambro, Superintendent of Silver Construction. Melanie Jewett, Curbside Administrator, Department of Public Works. Brandon Olson, Associate Director of Environmental Services. And we like to know what's going on. What happens in the beginning of the snowstorm? What happens in the middle of the snowstorm and what's going on now? So it's going to be a discussion discussion between DPW and all the questions that we have to you though. Hopefully, we can have a great answers, a conclusion, and uh a solution. That's why we're here. We're now going to take no words, nothing about to make a decision. The decision will be in you after this meeting. Do you coordinate with the police department when they have the parking ban? I'm sorry, I I missed the beginning of your question. Do you coordinate with police department about a parking bin? Um when the mayor has decided to institute a parking ban, we do have the police with us in snow operations. I thought it might be helpful as we start our discussion tonight, if I was to give kind of an overview of how we prepare and the staffing and what it looks like in terms of our snow operations, so that we're all dealing with the same set of information as we pursue this discussion and then answer your questions, if that would be okay. We had those questions in my in my book about the coordination. But I can give you time.
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