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Public Works Director Talks About Cleanup Effort

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Pittsburgh Public Works Director said the city was running on a skeleton crew when the snow began to fall Monday afternoon.

Many people were off because of the Presidents Day holiday, which made clearing the city's streets an even bigger challenge.

There were still some trouble spots around the city of Pittsburgh Tuesday morning as crews continued to clear the recent snow.

Wachter Street was blocked by someone's unsuccessful attempt to travel up the hill Tuesday morning. They crashed into the guardrail and were unable to move their vehicle.

Dave Viszneki said the street is sometimes ignored by city plows and it can cause problems. His car was smashed into last night and it's not the first time it's happened.

"Anytime you have a snowstorm there's going to be criticism," Pittsburgh Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski said.

Some may want to hold the city responsible for roads being untreated during the commute, but Kaczorowski said his crews did a great job.

"You [have to] keep in mind our response time for a snowstorm like this is anywhere from 24 to 36 hours. It takes time to travel those 1,200 miles of streets, so people have to be patient," Kaczorowski said.

The storm ended around 2:30 a.m. and by that point, 800 miles of primary roads were cleared. Crews began working on the secondary roads around 6 a.m.

The timing of the storm was a problem because they called in crews early, but traffic jams around rush hour didn't allow them to hit the roads as fast.

Kaczorowski said it was the worst traffic jam he's ever seen around the area.

A private contractor was hired to clear the snow from Third and Fourth Avenues near PPG Place. According to KDKA's John Shumway, seven tri-axle trucks of snow were hauled away from that area.

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