I cannot believe everyone thinks everyone should own a certain type of vehicle to get through the snow. Especially in hard times. Everyone does their best to make do with what they have.

Yes I agree people should slow down, thats another problem is people get too comfortable, dont think about the risks or other people involved and for CRYING OUT LOUD PEOPLE, get off the cell phones in the middle of a BLIZZARD!

As for plowing, I think they have done an ok job. Not great, but not horrible.
I mean I can get out and everything but I also live on a cul de sac and it can be very hard to get out of the parking lot when its not plowed. We just help each other out and grab shovels and try to salt things ourselves if we have to.

You whiners are pathetic. You're more concerned about a little snow than having decent schools for our children. Move for christ sake!!!!!!

Boo hooo I have 4x4s too cause i live in a state where is snows allot hmmm take your little toy cars and get stuck so i can charge you to pull you idiots out

Yea i cant count the times that i've seen a plow drive by with the plow up and not down!!!

ya just spent millions of tax payer money on the high schools....you can't plow my street? lol

I don't own a 4x4 but I know how to make my Ford more "snow friendly". It's amazing what 140 pounds of sand bags in the trunk and paying attention while driving can do! If you don't like the way the roads are plowed, may I suggest moving to a different state?!? and yea spark, my kids don't whine as much as some posters on here either!!

I say don’t plow till there is 4ft of snow. I live in WI and I own one truck that can go though anything and another SUV that has 4wheeldrive. Common sense should would be if you live in WI you should have atleast one all-wheel drive auto. So stop bitchin if you’re driving a Honda and stuck in the middle of an intersection

My parents live on a small cul de sac. I drove to their house the other day and had no problem until I go to their street. It had not been touched at all over the entire week. This street is mostly retired people. The residents come out and plow driveways and walkways, but the city does not do much for them.

Bitch! Bitch! Bitch!

I'm a thinking that the snow plow drivers deserve to be able to take a BREAK just like anyone else! Do you work without taking breaks? I bet you don't! Where is Rodney King when we need him? "Can't we all just get along?" You think things are bad now just wait this is only the start!! If I ever need to get a laugh all I have to do is come in here and do a little reading. I'm sure the plow driver would like to be able to go home after they work 8 hours but they don't. They do their jobs and work with what they have. They don't get the glory when things work out good do they? All they get is all the bashing. It is not their fault if the city wants to cut the plowing down for smaller snowfalls. Give them a break people, they are doing the best they can. And to the spelling or grammar police I really don't care what you think either. Almost everone else who reads these posts knows what we are typing about, I'm not one who has to be politicaly correct. And if I make spelling errors or grammar mistakes, so be it. so with that said to NOT be politicaly correct MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!!! STAY SAFE!!

we all live in wisconsin we know the signs for bad weather the city knows to .all we can do is sit back and let them walk on us like they do every winter .they say thay dont have the money cut back on the pay thay pay city workers all i ever see is alot of them stand around and watch others work .ive seen 4plows sitting in parking lots talking when thay should be working.also last winter my street got plowed 2times that year .

By the way...the recession? It's snowed in Wisconsin forever! 4-wheel drive vehicles have been around forever. You've had plenty of time to make the purchase up until now. And comparing hurricanes to snow is one of the craziest comparisons I've ever heard.

My five year old doesn't whine this much. Unbelievable. Merry Christmas ya bunch of scrooges! Geez!

trimmo is surprised there was ice on the street! That's funny as hell. Let's see . . . heavy, wet snow packed down all day by drivers . . . plowed at least twice (if you read the article), salted at least three times (if you know how the City does things) followed by temps in the single digits. I know I'm SHOCKED it turned to ice.

These guys can't win. I go back to my original post . . . the complainers on this site are idiots.

get over it already it is not going to change!

I didn't even know the city bothered to plow...is the plow even down when this so called "plowing" takes place?! Thats not to mention salt...lord knows the good city of Janesville doesn't know what salt is, why just take a look at your streets. As a matter of fact, it was just today on west milwaukee street downtown on the intsection of Main, that myself, and several, several other Janesvilllians slid a good 20ft on pure, yes thats right folks, pure ice. You know the stuff the city throws $800K some odd thousand dollars a year to take care of...uhuh. No, I think Janesiville learning to plow is like asking Wal-Mart to give equal pay to female employees, or Nike to close all sweat shops. Asking Janesville, Wisconsin to plow and salt, in any fashion, is like, asking Janesville Wisconsin to care about its historical buildings, or...or give up hunting! ...Just not an option.

Untill then please visit your Local Chevy, Mercedes, and Land Rover dealers for great deals on gas guzzling SUV's, then you two will fit in with the rest of Janesvilians enjoying the lovely "plowed" streets. (Minus those drivinvg the Range Rovers and Mercedes...you clearly belong in Madison, or somewhere other than Janesville).

And after purchase of those wonderful SUV's that say: My kids play soccer, my husband has a job, and my city doesnt plow! Stop by your local Car Insurance agent, and allow them to steal your lifes savings, every month!

I have a question. We all live in a state that,FOREVER, has had snow and a lot of it. Why oh why do people keep buying vehicles that dont get through the snow!!! Quit complaining about snow plows and go get a vehicle that will ACTUALLY get through this crap!

streets are awful, but the sidewalks look great,

ray . . . City only declares an emergency when every street in City is to get plowed. Just as info. Not trying to be snotty.

here are a couple things the city needs to be aware of in a front-wheel drive car the engine is turned sideways and closer to the ground pushing through 2 inches of snow can cause snow to be thrown up into the engine and rip the belt off the engine. Second if the city decides to enact a snow emerency and the city is plowing all streets how can u ticket me for parking on the street? So the Police department should be made fully awhare of what streets will or will not be plowed so they can ticket accordingly.

Temperatures on the pavement are a consideration? Duh guys, the pavement temperatures are freezing!

Has anyone noticed that there are 4x4 vehichles in the interstate medians? They still skid when speeding in unsafe driving conditions. snow covered & icy streets are NOT Nascar racetracks-this is Wisconsin-geezzzzzzzzz. Kudos to the snowplow drivers who have to put up with cars parked on the streets & the cold & wintry conditions they have to work in.
Also, thank you's to the many people who help others in these wintry conditions. "Angels of Mercy".

I vote that we take the budget used for picking up leaves that are raked in the gutters and use this $$ for winter plowing needs. How much is spend on this procedure? Let's see we have a truck pushing the leaves, a truck with a ramp for the leaves to be pushed onto, and a sweeper coming around after that. Add the trips taken to empty the leaves, the man hours, the fuel I'd say we may have more $$ for winter needs. Rake your leaves and bag them and put them out to the curb or use a mulching mower and mulch them.

I think the city and county did a terrific job clearing roads with what they have to deal with! I had no problem getting to work or getting home. So THANK YOU!!!!! Also my mailbox was damaged last year. Do you know what I did? I just replaced it. Very easy. Didn't demand that someone else pay for it, just fixed it myself.Another thing. I have 4 wheel drive. Not a little jap matchbox piece of crap. It is Wisconsin after all.

Hurricanes cause substanial property destruction. Nothing even remotely resembling the problems caused by snow fall. When is the last time you saw the homes in an entire community lying in shambles because it snowed? That's an absurd analogy.
It's just a guess but I suspect you're in the minority when it comes to those willing to pay high taxes for better snow removal, W8.

dkush21, Try spending 14 + hours in a truck that beats the hell out, of you dealing with people who can’t drive or wait a few more seconds for a truck to clear the way. We are very sorry to hit the mail boxes. We get very fatigued, hold down the controls a millisecond to long and the box is air born. There are federal regulations that prevent regular truck driver from being worked to long. We are required in snow emergency to make the road safe. Some people need to get over them self’s.

I would rather pay a higher tax and know that the streets will be plowed for safe driving in a timely manner. My concern is not that my street be bare at all times. I just want a safe place to drive where I don't run the risk of tearing up the undercarriage of my car. Please pardon me if I think that having a safe street to drive on is a reasonable request.
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And by the way, most of us know we live in Wisconsin and that it is snowy and cold. When you there is a hurrican in Florida, they don't leave the mess behind and say, "Oh well, we're in Florida, we have hurricanes, so deal with it." They clean the mess up. Part of living in a geographical area with snow is dealing with it when it falls. That includes making sure we have a safe and sound infrastructure to travel on.

The fine state of Florida would love more people to come down and stay with them over the winter months. May I suggest that option to all that are unhappy with the conditions we obviously have here in a little place we call the "Midwest".

The complainers here are absolute idiots. They're the SAME idiots who, when the City has to reach into THEIR pockets to grab cash for the lavish services they expect, scream bloody murder. These managers don't have an open checkbook. Did you hear anyone from the Council, when Messer addressed them, jump up and say "No matter the cost! Plow away!". NO. Messer and Whitcomb are doing their jobs. Which, if you are a complainer, is to save you from yourself!

Usaret hit it on the head. Just run the same complaints next year. The City could clean the complainers' driveways and they'd still complain.

Wonder how many decades we've heard these same complaints? Lets just take this years complaints and let the gazette run a few next winter after each snow fall. Eliminate the middleman and save time and the stress on everyone. It's Wisconsin. It's winter and the two together equal snow, ice and miserable driving conditions. Adjust!

Get a 4x4 or stay off the streets.

It's rather difficult to budget for snowfall when until last year, which was the worst year on record, we went how many years with hardly any snow at all? Can't please everyone.

The fact that supposedly nobody noticed the reduction in services between March and Nov. 30 (of course how many snowfalls did we get in this time period, guessing not a whole lot)says alot about the "quality" of the services that were provided prior to that. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't want to hear excuses from Mr. Messer, the city manager or anybody else. If the budget was shot in March then find the money someplace else. Maybe we go without a children's museum or a roundabout or two, that's what most people in the real world call a tough choice. Us taxpayers have to make them all the time when it comes to budgeting money, particularly in this economy, so it's about time the politicians start figuring it out. Also, note to those who control the budget, might want to set more aside for plowing next year so that we don't have to listen to more excuses to explain ineptitude.

spark, I agree, when did we get so bad in this society that we have to critize everything. Yesterday they did a wonderful job, thank you.

Good God people. It's not that bad!!!!!! And yes, my street is one of those that get's plowed last and didn't get plowed before yesterdays storm. As far as the mailboxes, accidents are going to happen once and awhile. It's not like they're doing it on purpose!

cfox- if you read the article about the sewer caps, they cost exactly the same and are only replacing as needed. There was no additional expense for these.

Boy, am I glad that we got those custom sewer caps this summer!Especailly since they were so much more then the regular ones! Maybe we should have used some of the money that was spend on those towards plowing? It amazes me.

p.s. i have a year round cabin in hatfield, wi and on a rural street, the plows come through faster than anywhere i've ever lived.

As I understand it the plowing budget is more or less constant. Of course, Mother Nature is anything but constant. Last year was a doozy of a winter and spring, and so far this year it's a repeat. The only consolation is that gas prices have fallen so there should be a few more miles of plowing possible (although labor is probably the primary budget item).

Funny also how the school referendum was voted on 3 times till it got passed.

when taxes go for things we don't need, i.e. new gyms, then when we get the once in a hundred years snow fall two years in a row, basic services fall short. now it starts snowballing. we need clean streets to get to work safely so we can pay taxes for things we don't need. we don't get the timely clean streets and the and the whole process degrades. but that has been the history of janesville and its incompetent school board. getting way ahead of itself on building etc things we don't need, "need" being the key word. funny, but it seems when i have a conversation with residents about the vote for those two gyms, everyone almost to a man (woman) denies having voted in favor of the gyms. makes me wonder how deviously the proposal was presented on the ballot.

And please don't knock over and bust people's mail boxes!

iwould like to see the 2007 budget last year was a once in a while thing. I think they could have budgeted more for 2009

i would like to see where we can cut other services throughout the year.Then build up a savings account for the years we need extra plowing. That should have been done in the years we had very little snow.

sarahB: that was the exact question I was going to ask... Apparently he thinks that people just want to be able to drive on nice roads, not that they need their streets clean so they can get to work, school, groceries, the doctor, etc.. If you can't get down your own road in your vehicle, how are you supposed to get to a clean road? Carry the car on your back? Seriously...

Personally I know we live in Wisconsin. I know it snows. And generally speaking, I don't complain about it too much. But when my street is so bad that my full sized car can't drive down it, that's ridiculous. My car litereally almost got stuck on a mound of snow that was not plowed. And I assure you, my full size car has no problem going through a reasonable amount of snow. I drove to Madison and back for wrok everyday it snowed last winter, except for the day in February this year when we got around 20 inches of snow. In fact, the car I have is one of the best cars to have in snow. The point I would like to make is that while SPARK is right about personal preparations that need to be made for Wisconsin weather, there is also a certain responsiblity that the city should maintain of keeping the roads SAFE. Just because it snows a few inches, doesn't mean that I should have to stay home from work. If that was the case, I would be calling in way too much. I don't mind dealing with a little less plowing to save some money either. But when the lack of plowing causes roadways to be unsafe and unpassable, that is a problem that should be addressed.

plow when and where you have to...please, just don't throw it back onto the sidewalk that I've just shoveled.

I have no comment.

Messer said: "We try to keep the residential streets passable. People might have to drive a few blocks to get to a street that's clear."

My question: What if you live on one of those streets that IS NOT clear?

Maybe the ex-city manager took the global warming hysteria seriously and believed that he could reduce the budget for snow removal a little every year until it never snows again.

People, we live in Wisconsin. A state that gets real cold and snows in the winter. The beautiful thing about it, we have seasons and can enjoy different types of weather throughout the year. When winter approaches, you prepare yourself for it. You know it's probably going to get bad. You know the roads are going to get bad and aren't always going to be cleared to your liking. Deal with it. If you drive a vehicle that handles poorly in the snow, maybe you should think about one that is more suitable for the weather we receive knowing you live in Wisconsin. After driving around yesterday, I realized one huge contributing factor to all of this. People simply don't know how to drive in the snow. It takes some skill and many people out there act like they've never seen the stuff before. It's alarming. By the way, going 15 mph in a 35 mph zone down the middle of the centerline on a two lane road, is not the answer. (Just a little something I experienced)

I'm glad to see they've increased the snow plowing budget by a whopping 5%. Does this mean we'll have to deal with poor road conditions at the end of next year too?