County’s 311 Call Center Overwhelmed After Blizzard

MCDOT Plow snow reponseMontgomery County’s 311 has experienced higher than normal call volume after last weekend’s historic blizzard.

MC311 is Montgomery County’s hotline for government information and service requests.

County Spokesperson Patrick Lacefield said 311 has been overwhelmed with calls about snow removal.

“Usually in a 12-hour period we get about 2,000 calls. Yesterday in a 24-hour period we got 24,915. Just between 9:30 and 10 today we received 2,264 [calls]. We’ve got some wait times but we’re continuing to work through it,” Lacefield said.

According to Lacefield, 311 has 40 operators who have been working on eight to ten hour shifts since the start of the storm on Friday. Lacefield added that it’s hard to tell residents when plows will arrive but that the county is working hard to clear the roads. He said 311 is operating on a 24/7 schedule since 6 a.m. on Friday, January 23rd.

Councilmember Tom Hucker tweeted about 311’s high call volume on Monday evening.

Councilmember Craig Rice pledged to address problems with 311 in a tweet sent Tuesday afternoon.


Callers seeking to reach 311 during high call volumes are encouraged to dial the full number which is 240.777.0311. Currently, 311 is only accepting calls related to the snowstorm but it is unable to provide information on when a plow will arrive on County streets.

To see the progress of snow plows in your area you can visit the County’s snow plow tracker and create a service request if your road has not been plowed.

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Willie James Inman

About Willie James Inman

Willie James Inman is a Community Engagement Specialist and Multimedia Journalist at Montgomery Community Media (MCM). You can email story ideas at winman@mymcmedia.org or reach him on Twitter @imwilljames.

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