After one of the biggest snowstorms in years, things in Dartmouth were just starting to get back to normal on Monday, Jan. 31 as roads were mostly clear and school started just an hour late.

Dartmouth received 14.3 inches of snow during the blizzard, according to the National Weather Service.

In Padanaram Village, the sidewalks were mostly clear and the streets were passable — though still covered by a thick layer of hardpack snow in most places — at midday on Sunday.

Travis Edwards, who was shoveling snow at a Padanaram business for Surroundings Landscaping, said that he’d been at it since 4 a.m. and still had 15 lots left to do.

“But that’s nothing,” he said, explaining how he had repeatedly cleared away the same two apartment complex parking lots over and over all day Saturday as more snow kept falling. “As soon as I got done snowblowing, I’d have to go around again.”

Dartmouth’s Interim Department of Public Works Director, Tim Barber, said on Monday that town crews had been working tirelessly throughout the weekend to clear roads and were down to the last few dead-end streets and intersections.

“Our crews are pretty exhausted — they put in a lot of work,” he said. “But the roads look good. There’s still some snow pack but that will start to melt as it warms up and more cars drive over it.”

Barber said that the nature of Saturday’s blizzard made it especially troublesome to deal with.

“One of our drivers said, ‘plowing this is like picking up sand at the beach with a fork,’” he said, because of strong winds that kept blowing the light and airy snow back into the roads. “We’ve had some pretty good storms but this was one of the worst because of the wind and the time duration.”

Barber said that adding to the frustration of the situation was the fact that many Dartmouth residents hadn’t complied with the town parking ban that was announced on Friday, making it difficult for large snow plows to access smaller roads.

As the cleanup continues, Barber said that residents can help by moving cars to the correct side of the road as soon as possible, clearing their driveways without putting snow back into the roads, and digging snow out in a three-foot circle around fire hydrants for better access.

“In an emergency, those seconds matter,” said Barber.

The massive amount of snow caused the Town of Dartmouth to postpone garbage collection by one day this week to allow for a more thorough snow cleanup.

“Tomorrow we’ll be back to solid waste and recycling pickup so most of our drivers will be back in those seats,” said Barber.