City's Chief Operations Officer Asks Residents To Be Patient With Plow Trucks
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A woman in Pittsburgh's Beechview neighborhood was still waiting Tuesday morning for her street to be plowed. She called the city and asked for help, but when nothing changed, she called KDKA.
Fremont Place is one of those snowy, hilly streets with cars parked on both sides, perhaps making it harder for plow trucks to get by.
But making it more difficult for the residents to understand is not more than a few yards away is Mackinaw Avenue and the plow trucks have been there many times.
"I had to call someone to take my son to school because I was afraid I could get off the hill, but I didn't know if I could get back on because I don't have an SUV," said Nancy Tobul, who lives on Fremont Place.
Tobul has lived in her Beechview home for 18 years. This morning she talked to a plow operator and nearly begged him to treat her street.
"You mean to tell me you are not going to hit our street, and he said, 'No.' He said, 'I can't fit. I can't fit,'" said Tobul. "And I kept saying, 'But garbage trucks come down,' and he said 'That's a different thing.' I said, 'How can it be different? It's bigger than you?' And I said, 'You aren't even going to try?'"
So Tobul called KDKA. When we arrived, a few salt spots showed that at least one crew had recently been to Fremont, but the cobblestone street was still a slippery, snow-covered mess.
So KDKA's Rick Dayton called the city's Chief Operating Officer Guy Costa. Within an hour, he met us there and a city truck treated Fremont three times with salt and a liquid mix.
"We ask folks, we remind them to give us some time, give Public Works time," said Costa. "They need 16… in a storm like yesterday's storm, 16 to 32 hours."
The fact that Fremont is cobblestone makes it harder.
"They have a tendency of freezing over sooner," said Costa. "What happens is when is starts snowing, it turns to ice instantly so they have to be treated several times, especially on a side street like this."
Another big hindrance for crews with big plow trucks is how much space they have to work. Costa asks you to give them as much room as possible.
"It's very difficult to get the truck through on normal, you know, people normally parking, so we ask people or folks to be conscious and keep us in mind when they park on these narrow streets such as this," Costa added.
Finally, Costa says if your streets are not treated and clear by 6 a.m. Wednesday, call the city's 311 number and they will look into it.
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