"If not today, it'll be tomorrow."

That's the promise of John Lisle, a spokesperson for the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in a long-ranging interview this morning with City Desk. Lisle was referring to DDOT's sked for hitting the residential streets with plows and salt and so on.

The city's snow-removal operation, said Lisle, is finishing out its assault on the main arteries and preparing to move all that equipment into the neighborhoods. That's going to be good news for Joe D.C. Taxpayer, who up to now has seen a light touch by work crews on the lesser-traveled streets. According to Lisle, the city is divided into 82 neighborhood plowing zones, and each one is assigned its own light truck equipped with a plow. And given the enormity of this one-two punch over the last six days, that one light truck per rezzy zone has been overwhelmed.

Not only will equipment from the main routes get diverted to the rezzy streets over the next 24 hours, but DDOT is supplementing its fleet via contracting. Lisle said that some heavy-equipment mogul in Massachusetts pulled his name and number off the Internet and is offering to come down with some rigs. "People are out to make some money," says Lisle, noting that the city is deploying light and heavy plows, front-end loaders, backhoes, and Bobcats to get the job done.

Other key points:

*If your car is parked in an alley, you have a choice: Wait for spring or hire your own contractor. The city does not clear alleys, says Lisle, except for a few in which people live in carriage houses. The reasons for the no-alley-plowing are several: 1) Resources; 2) Alleys are too narrow to accommodate the snow that gets pushed around; 3) There are extreme liability questions—if you try to plow the alley, you're bound to sideswipe a few cars and a stray garage door.

*People are all over the map in terms of their feedback on the city's snow-removal performance. Says Lisle: "We’ve gotten some great positive feedback from people who appreciate all the hard work...and negative feedback from people whose street hasn't been plowed or plowed enough."

*Matthews wasn't totally off the mark. When asked if he'd heard about the remarks of MSNBC's Chris Matthews slamming the District's snow removal, Lisle said he'd seen a tweet about the matter. Here's, in part, what Matthews said: "Why can't a government town do a government job? It looked like Siberia without the Siberian discipline. We had the weather of Buffalo with the snowplowing capability of Miami." When apprised of that slight, Lisle showed a dimension that Matthews didn't: reasoned thinking. The District, said Lisle, sure doesn't have the equipment of a Buffalo when it comes to cleaning up after a winter storm. Nor is it as unprepared as a Miami. "We're in the middle," he says. "We plan for this year-round. Our crews have been working nonstop 12 hour shifts round the clock for six days straight. I can understand the individual frustration...I think that if you look at the city overall, I think we’ve done a great job."

Photograph by Darrow Montgomery

Stop Ticketing Us: Some fed-up parents complain they’ve been ticketed for years; and although the school tried to distribute decals for parents to display on their windshields, the informal agreement did not dissuade parking enforcement administrators. Parent Andrea Brobgins, who has received two tickets, told City Desk: “They should at least have a safety zone. I’m so scared to get a ticket, I stay in my car. Luckily I have a high school student who can go get my kids, otherwise I don’t know what I’d do.”

It's Rush Hour: According to a D.C. Department of Transportation (DDOT) study on a nearby portion of L Street, “This section is experiencing congestion and numerous parking related problems…the major aggravator is illegal parking.” DDOT spokesman John Lisle says: "If we make an adjustment to the hours, there could be other impacts, like on rush hour traffic. It's something we'd have to look into."

Next Step: Pamela Johnson, another Thomson parent who has repeatedly contacted DDOT and the office of D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray seeking relief, is on a crusade! Petition? Protest? Lisle says DDOT is looking into solutions such as extending the standing-only time until after 6. In the meantime, beware the meter maid.

Photo by Alicegop, Creative Commons Attribution License

“I Speak for the Trees, for the Trees Have No Tongues”: Hilloholic, writing on the blog Frozen Tropics, says, “Ginkgoes are awesome! Don’t cut them down. I wouldn’t call their smell a huge problem.” There is also a pesticide spray available that halts the production of the smelly fruit—a tactic the Urban Forestry Administration has utilized in the past.

What is That Smell? No stretch here: Many people wouldn't be sad to see the smelly offenders go. The blog DCist has an entire page of comments dedicated to describing the aroma of the ginkgo fruit: Most include some combination of the words “vomit,” “jizz,” and “Parmesan.” As far as the pesticide option, the city found it difficult to complete the spraying in the short time window available, and has mainly used tree removal as a solution in recent years.

Next Step: If you want trees replanted fast, grab neighbors and mobilize: DDOT spokesman John Lisle told City Desk that the city also “requests an agreement saying the community is going to water the tree and assist nurturing it for the first two years.” A commenter also offers this advice: “You have to call to have the tree removed. You can't use the online system because they don't read those reports.”

Photo by Kew Gardens, Creative Commons Attribution License

Speed Up: ANC Commissioner David Engel says, "The humps are massive, and a huge traffic diversion. You can't go more than five miles an hour." He is also irked that an invited DDOT official shunned a recent ANC meeting at which the issue came up. He maintains that it's mainly the "rich and powerful on the block" that want the speed bumps, rather than the whole community. "Certain people want their own urban village," he says.

Slow Down: John Lisle, spokesman for DDOT, says that speed humps must be approved by 75 percent of the block—and that happened—but the process has been streamlined and no longer requires a traffic report. In terms of construction, he said, "ANC approval is not required." Also, it is unclear whether the ANC provided opposition early enough in the process.

Next Step: In that recent meeting, the ANC requested the speed humps be removed pending the collection of data; it also wants an oversight hearing on the entire process.