A Walking City That Couldn't Walk: How D.C. Froze for a Week

Nearly a week after the Jan. 25 winter storm, a pattern kept surfacing in D.C.: the roadbed was mostly back, but the pedestrian network wasn’t. In one account shared online, a person using a wheelchair traveled in the roadway of 16th Street during rush hour because the sidewalks were still a frozen barrier.

In a city where many trips begin and end on foot—or at a bus stop—those gaps don’t read as minor. When crosswalks are narrowed to a single shoveled slit, sidewalks stay ice-caked, and landings at the curb are buried, “roads are open” can still mean a trip that’s broken for kids walking to school, parents pushing strollers, or anyone trying not to slip.

On the r/washingtondc subreddit, residents repeatedly described the same danger pattern: pedestrians exiled into the roadway. People wrote about walking in tire tracks because sidewalks were effectively impassable; about drivers honking at those in the street as if there were another option; and about bus stops that felt like a “death wish” because the only clear space was in the travel lane.

Massive piles of shoveled snow and slush blocking a city crosswalk and a "No Turns" traffic sign after a winter storm.

A storm powerful enough to bend systems

The storm was national in scale. Reuters reported winter storm warnings covering 118 million people, with 157 million under extreme cold warnings as Arctic air pushed deep into the South. Reuters

Loading chart...

Source: Reuters — Thousands of flights canceled ahead of U.S. winter storm (Jan. 24, 2026)

What made D.C. slow to dig out was the combination of snow plus heavy sleet, followed by a sustained freeze. The Capital Weather Gang described 4 to 7 inches of snow topped by up to 4 inches of sleet, much of it falling with temperatures in the teens—dense material that compacted into “snowcrete.” The Washington Post

Then the cleanup clock froze. The region went through nine consecutive days (233 hours) below freezing, shutting down the thaw-and-melt cycle D.C. often gets after a storm. The Washington Post

Why it felt worse than the bigger snowfalls.

Comments often compared this storm to Snowmageddon, Snowpocalypse, and the 1996 blizzard. Some folks said those storms dumped more snow but were easier to shovel because a warm-up came within days. Others said the 2010 closures were worse overall. The common thread was not just the accumulation but the ice layer and the lack of any thaw.

Several commenters also framed the storm in terms of what did not happen. Many said they kept power and noted that freezing rain would have meant far more tree damage and outages.

"I'm just glad to still have power."

Some users worried about the next phase: when dense snow and sleet finally melt, the water content feels high, and localized flooding could follow. That concern underscores how a storm’s impacts can stretch across weeks, not days.

Totals varied across major metros.

Loading chart...

Sources: NWS Boston/Norton (BOX) Public Information Statement — FINAL Snowfall Reports (Logan 23.2"); NWS New York/Upton (OKX) Public Information Statement (Central Park 11.4"); NWS Baltimore/Washington (LWX) Public Information Statement — Spotter Reports (BWI 11.1", DCA 6.8"); NWS Mt. Holly (PHI) Public Information Statement (PHL 9.3").

From plowing to hauling

Once the sleet had frozen into concrete, plowing was only the first step. D.C. became a hauling operation: breaking up piles with heavy equipment, loading dump trucks, and hauling the material to temporary storage and disposal sites.

The limits of normal equipment

Several commenters emphasized that standard snow gear in D.C.—shovels, snowblowers, and pickup-mounted plows—is not built for sleet-concrete. Residents described using pickaxes, metal spades, and crowbars to chip through ice. Others argued that if sidewalks and curb cuts weren’t cleared during the first narrow window, the freeze locked them in place.

"I had to use a pickaxe to get through some of the ice this week."

Discussion also touched on labor and access. Some posts said contractor crews were unavailable or scarce; others said the city should have required alternate-side parking or emergency parking restrictions so plows could clear curb-to-curb. Several commenters described plows pushing snow from bike paths into travel lanes, leaving pedestrians and drivers to compete for the same narrowed space.

The District added the Carter Barron Amphitheater parking lot as an additional snow disposal site as other locations reached capacity. DDOT Local reporting described a 22-acre lot at the former United Medical Center campus filled with snow and ice, while an estimated 900 loads per day were hauled to drop-off sites including RFK and Carter Barron. WTOP

One commenter, discussing the Carter Barron site, described dump trucks spending more than an hour roundtrip to RFK, leaving “crews of Bobcats and excavators just waiting for a dump truck.”

Map: Snow disposal and drop-off sites cited during D.C.’s hauling phase

Loading map...

Sites cited: RFK and Carter Barron (WTOP); Carter Barron (DDOT); United Medical Center campus lot (WTOP).

Source: DDOT — “DDOT Snow Operations Begin at Carter Barron Amphitheater Parking Lot” (Feb. 1, 2026); WTOP — “What’s DC doing to get schools, streets, sidewalks back to normal in snowstorm aftermath?” (Feb. 2, 2026)

Note: DDOT’s announcement says “other snow storage locations across the District are reaching capacity,” but does not name those additional locations.

Hauling can clear lanes and still fail the street-level test that matters: whether someone can reach a bus stop, cross safely, or complete a continuous trip without stepping into traffic.

A cleared city street with a high wall of dirty plowed snow and ice lining the curb and blocking a bus stop and bike lane.

What residents documented on the ground

To complement official updates with on-the-ground details, PlaceIndex analyzed 2,278 written comments and replies across 52 local Reddit threads posted between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2, 2026. While Reddit isn’t representative of the city, it’s a platform where residents often share block-by-block observations. Here, it’s treated as community reporting: messy, partial, and often highly specific.

To make the discussion readable at scale, we grouped each thread by the main issue it returned to most often (many threads touched multiple problems). The table focuses on D.C. discussion after excluding the 427-comment pre-storm megathread and a handful of out-of-area threads.

Loading table...

What the keywords indicate

A simple keyword scan of the 2,278 entries (counts overlap and reflect mentions, not unique incidents) shows what dominated the conversation: the physics of the storm, and the ability to move around afterward. Terms related to sleet, ice, and snowcrete appeared in 554 entries; plows in 299; sidewalks in 257; buses in 81; crosswalks in 51; wheelchairs in 7. Mentions of neighbors or help appeared in 202 entries, while fines or tickets appeared in 73.

Three excerpts capture how residents tried to reconcile the storm’s severity with choices around planning, communication, and follow-through.

First, a framing that holds both truths at once:

"I mean...two things can be simultaneously true. This was a freak storm where the conditions afterwards made it extremely difficult to plow… The DC government poorly allocated resources and screwed the pooch on the plan they did have."

Second, a call for clearer public status reporting:

"If factors like these are in play, the city needs to be more transparent about it… more realistic about the condition of the street before they mark it as ‘serviced’."

Third, how gaps in tools and responsibility showed up on the ground:

"It's wild that 311 doesn't even have an option to report snow removal needed… Kids were slipping and sliding… because obviously no one shoveled or salted the walk in front of a DC owned park."

The mobility stories were specific, not abstract. Commenters described crosswalks turned into three-foot berms, bus shelters with no usable path, and drivers stopping inside the only cleared routes. Several posts focused on disability access and transit riders—not just inconvenience.

There was no single consensus on blame. Some commenters framed the storm as a borderline natural disaster that overwhelmed the region. Others emphasized that forecasts signaled a long freeze and argued pre-treatment, staffing, or early plowing should have been more aggressive. The responsibility debate extended beyond the city: posts argued over property-owner obligations, calls for National Guard support, and the fact that some impassable sidewalks were on federal land.

The counter-story was mutual aid. Neighbors organized to clear crossings, asked strangers to meet up with shovels, and shared tools. One reply captured the tone:

"Don't wait for someone else! I did a crosswalk today alone and neighbors were super appreciative."

Sunlight casting long tree shadows across a snow-covered sidewalk and park area near a stone monument in D.C.

New York and Boston: what a pedestrian plan looks like

New York and Boston didn’t have perfect recoveries. Both saw accessibility complaints and lingering piles made worse by extended cold. The difference was how explicitly the pedestrian layer—sidewalks, crossings, stops, and bike routes—was treated as part of the mission, not as leftover work.

In New York City, the mayor’s office framed crosswalks, bus stops, and bike lanes as first-order targets, describing thousands of workers per shift and roughly 500 emergency snow shovelers per day. The city also reported 23 million pounds of snow melted using eight snow-melting sites. NYC Mayor's Office Local reporting described emergency shovel crews focused on sidewalks and bus stops. Gothamist

In Boston, the post-storm story was also messy, but feedback loops were active. Boston logged more than 6,000 snow-related complaints in the week after the storm. Axios The city also issued hundreds of citations for unshoveled sidewalks, reiterating that property owners must keep a 42-inch path clear and can be fined up to $200 per day. WCVB

The D.C. gap: recovery measured as lanes, not trips

D.C. experienced a rare sleet-heavy storm and an unusually long deep freeze. But the street-level accounts point to a narrower operational gap: success was communicated as navigable roads, while everyday trips remained discontinuous.

Residents interpreted announcements about road openings through the routes they actually use. A plowed street with blocked curb ramps still forced people using wheelchairs, parents with strollers, and bus riders into traffic. Several comments contrasted visible activity—like a plow passing by or a truck hauling snow—with the unresolved problem of basic passability.

"There are some major two and three lane roads that are down to 1 1/2 lanes because of the huge piles of ice that the snowplows left behind."

Sidewalk responsibility became a flashpoint. D.C. law requires many property owners to clear adjacent sidewalks, but the storm exposed how fragmented responsibility produces fragmented networks. It also exposed the limits of enforcement: when ice is concrete-hard, compliance requires tools and time, not just a warning.

The question of jurisdiction complicated enforcement. Commenters noted impassable sidewalks on federal land along 16th Street and argued that the National Guard was not at the mayor’s disposal. Others pushed back, saying the city still owned the outcome even if it did not control every asset.

The city temporarily paused enforcement and waived fines for uncleared sidewalks due to heavy ice. NBC4 Washington That may have reduced punitive friction, but it didn’t change the core accessibility problem: the network still needed to become passable.

Parking policy was a gap. Without alternate-side parking or emergency restrictions, plows can’t reach curb-to-curb on narrow residential streets, and snowbanks end up in the crossings. In pedestrian terms, that can be the difference between a navigable block and a blocked trip.

Lessons to measure for the next no-melt storm

The most specific complaints were also the most measurable. A better plan starts by measuring the right thing.

Define a Pedestrian Priority Network before winter

Publish the curb ramps, crosswalks, bus stops, and school routes that must be cleared first, aligned with WMATA high-frequency corridors.
Track passability, not just activity

A plow GPS ping is not the metric. The metric is whether a route is continuously passable for a stroller, cane, or wheelchair, validated with spot checks and 311 reports.
Treat berms at crossings as hazards

If a road is cleared but the curb cut is blocked, the trip is broken. Set explicit targets for clearing curb cuts and crosswalks within hours, not days.
Build a surge sidewalk and crosswalk workforce

In heavy ice, the hardest work is often manual: breaking, shoveling, and clearing tight geometry. Pre-stage tools and temporary crews for that work, not just trucks.
Plan for hauling early when forecasts signal a freeze

If conditions are expected to be no melt, then hauling should be staged early in the season rather than as a late season pivot, and disposal sites should be opened in advance.
Coordinate sidewalk responsibility so the network functions

Even if property owners have legal responsibility, the city still owns the outcome: clear standards, targeted support near transit and schools, and a public reporting loop.
Trigger parking rules that unlock curb-to-curb plowing

Alternate-side parking and temporary restrictions are operational tools, not just traffic policies. Without them, clearing crosswalks and curb lanes is slower and less complete.
Coordinate across jurisdictions and federal landowners

Sidewalks on federal land, campuses, and large institutions should be integrated into the same priority network with shared timelines and accountability.

D.C.’s most encouraging signal was neighbors clearing crossings, sharing tools, and organizing to restore usable routes. That civic response is a strength — and a reminder of the standard recovery should meet: continuous, safe mobility for people, not just cars.