Snow is so pretty as if falls. But the reality of all that heavy snow from last weekend's blizzard was anything but pretty on Main Street by Monday. Drivers struggled to find places to park, pedestrians had to navigate through or over giant snow mounds, and store owners lost business.

The EG Department of Public Works made it all – most of it anyway – go away in a significant operation Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. That Main Street snow? It's now piled up in the parking lot above the town boat launch on Crompton Avenue.  

"We understand the importance of Main Street," said DPW director Joe Duarte. "I wish we could have done it Monday." 

The rain Monday interfered with those plans, as crews did yet more snow plowing and had to monitor roads for flooding. To deal with the Main Street snow, the crew has to remove the sanders from the big trucks so they can insteada be filled with the snow. Then the sanders have to be put back in, to be ready for another storm.

"I don't know how these guys do it storm after storm," said Duarte. "The guys were tested to the max."

Next order of business, he said, was to clear sidewalks around town, starting at the schools and working out from there.

On Main Street Tuesday at 11:30 p.m., the workers were pretty sanguine. "After 47 hours of plowing over the weekend, this is easy," said one. But, said another, "check back with us at 4 in the morning."

For another story about snow removal on Main Street, check out Jeff Stevens' story from 2011.