A Poor Excuse, Pittsburgh. Shame on you!

I just received an update that Pittsburgh will not be taking any more phone calls into the 311 hotline regarding snow removal. Garbage and recycling will not be picked up and residents are urged not to drive. The National Guard has been called in to assist with snow removal.

Shame on you, Pittsburgh! Yes, this is a storm for the record books. M and I can attest to to the hazardous conditions of the roads, as we ventured out to my parents' last night to watch the Super Bowl (Go Saints!). We live on a main road, and took only main roads to get to my parents house. The main roads in the city remain snow packed. There was little evidence that either plowing nor salt or cinder application had been done. And yet, as soon as we crossed the river (and thus crossed the city limits) the roads were mostly bare and definitely passable. We saw salt trucks. Traffic was moving slower than normal and in some places, snow remained in the right hand lane. Some tree branches still needed to be removed. However, it was obvious that the outlying communities had trucks out during and after the storm. It was clear by the conditions of the roads, and well...we actually saw more salt trucks out there!

Since we recently received a warning about clearing our own sidewalks within 24 hours of snow, and since we (well, M and my dad) worked hard to do so, it is more than a little annoying that there has been little evidence of the City's attempt to clear the roads from this storm.

I saw very few Public Works trucks doing snow removal of any sort, either during the storm or since that time (and it's been at least 36 hours since the snow STOPPED at this point). I can verify that most people are staying off the road...we live within viewing distance of a major intersection and it's really quiet out there. So this idea that plows are having difficulty getting around because of abandoned vehicles or foolish drivers clogging up the roadways is just absurd to me. People have given Public Works plenty of time and space to clear the roads, but at a certain point, we simply need to get from Point A to Point B....essential personnel for hospitals have to get to work. And people like my parents, who were stranded at our home and respectfully stayed off the roads during and directly after the storm, eventually needed to get home. And what about all those folks without water or electricity who need to move to relatives' homes, or to warming centers?

And Pittsburgh doesn't have the building density issues that a city like New York or Philadelphia would have. There are lots of places for the snow to go! I don't live back in one of Pittsburgh's many hilly neighborhoods with narrow streets. I live on the corner of two of the busiest streets in the East End and the road conditions are so deplorable that ambulances and fire trucks can barely get by.

And then to add to my frustration, I hear that Luke Ravenstahl was stuck in the Laurel Highlands where he went for his birthday. YOU WENT TO THE MOUNTAINS FOR A BIRTHDAY PARTY DURING ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED SNOW STORMS OF THE LAST ONE HUNDRED YEARS!!!!????

Happy 30th, Luke. Hope it was worth it. And Pittsburgh Public Works, observe the rest of Allegheny County as an example, and maybe send your trucks out to actually do something in the next day or two.