Last Thursday, Syracuse Department of Public Works crews took advantage of the break in the weather to clear what was left of the snow from the curbs of James Street in Eastwood.

That just happened to be the same day the issue featuring an effort to remove the parking pay stations in Eastwood hit newsstands, and just three days following a TNT meeting in the neighborhood where the parking issue was a hot topic.

We wondered if there was a connection, and asked DPW Deputy Commissioner Tom Simone if the snow removal was in response to complaints about parking in Eastwood.

Simone said the snow removal effort was “trying to reestablish parking in that area.” He was not aware of the overall movement in Eastwood to remove the pay stations, or the claim that metered parking was hurting businesses and forcing people to avoid parking on James Street.

Clearing curbs of the salty, gritty snow would help make parking easier and more navigable, Simone said. He said that type of removal was sometimes complaint-driven, but that he wasn’t aware whether snow removal in Eastwood was the result of a complaint.

So maybe the curb clean-up was a sign of impending Spring?

“I would love to be Syracuse’s groundhog,” Simone laughed. “I’d like to say it is Spring. But as I know, from living in Syracuse for years, that is not the case.”

Looks like he was right.