Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and PennDOT officials try to keep up with wintry weather

After being spoiled by a lack of snow last winter, Western Pennsylvania residents have been confronted by multiple snow events since November.

The total with Monday’s 1.5 inch snowfall is now 51.2 inches, according to the National Weather Service in Moon, putting it in the Top 10 snow accumulations through Feb. 15.

In contrast, by Feb. 15, 2020, the total was just 19.3 inches.

City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County and PennDOT officials say they are doing their best to keep up with snow removal and deal with ice on the roads, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been complaints.

On Monday complaints about poorly plowed roads from residents of Brookline, Arlington, Beechview and the South Side flats were registered on social media.

“Public works crews have been working around the clock for the past week treating roads, bridges and sidewalks from repeated bands of snow and ice, and are continuing to work 24/7 this week,” said Tim McNulty, a spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto’s office.

“Ice continues to cover roads all across Western Pennsylvania, and makes them as slippery for Public Works trucks as for other vehicles. The city asks residents to be patient and careful, and to limit travel when possible. The public Snow Plow Tracker shows most city streets have been treated, but crews are working continuously to reach all of them,” McNulty said.

Allegheny County officials said the Department of Public Works deployed 27 salt trucks installed with plows at midnight Monday.

“We did not receive any reports this morning of problem areas on the roadways in which the county is responsible for snow and ice removal,” said public information officer Brent Wasko.

With round two of the latest winter storm expected to bring more ice than snow, possibly as much as a quarter-inch to a half-inch of ice accumulation, Wasko said Public Works will continue to have at least 27 salt trucks out on county roads and bridges until the storm ends Tuesday.

“We are monitoring the forecasts and, if needed, we will bring in more drivers to ensure complete coverage of our roadways,” said Wasko. “It takes our drivers about one to two hours to complete their routes and about another hour to return to the nearest garage to refill with salt. Traffic and road conditions can slow them. So, despite our best efforts, there could be slick spots on county roadways overnight and tomorrow morning, especially on bridges and ramps.”

PennDOT received no complaints about Route 65 or Route 28 overnight or Monday morning, according to Steve Cowen, spokesman for PennDOT district 11.

Cowen acknowledged a crash in which a truck jackknifed on I-79 Monday morning and a crash that brought down wires and closed Bakerstown Road in northern Allegheny County, but could not confirm if they were weather related.