Pittsburgh braces for snowstorm, urges drivers to stay off roads Friday, closes HOV lanes

With a major snowstorm heading for the Pittsburgh region, city officials are urging residents to stay off the roads Friday as they prepare to clear streets with a depleted fleet of plows.

The snowstorm is expected to start after midnight with flurries changing to mostly snow after 3 a.m., with residents waking up to about 1-to-2 inches of snow, according to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

During the day Friday, more snow will arrive, with accumulation of another 1-to-3 inches of snow possible. The snow should taper off to less than an inch of new accumulation Friday night, the weather service said.

Crews are preparing for 4 to 6 inches of snow starting overnight Thursday into Friday, with the worst of it anticipated during morning rush hour.

“We’re going to have a full contingent on tonight doing some pretreating,” Pittsburgh Department of Public Works Director Chris Hornstein said Thursday, adding that crews will be out all weekend to plow and treat roads.

But that full contingent is not so full.

A “significant portion of our fleet” is out due to maintenance issues, Hornstein said.

About 20 vehicles of the city’s 75-strong snow-clearing fleet are sidelined, Olga George, a spokeswoman for Mayor Ed Gainey, said. Officials said that they expect five of them to be back in service soon as they need only small fixes.

As a result, only 50 to 55 trucks will be out at each shift, Hornstein said.

Hornstein said he was “satisfied” with the city’s response to Tuesday’s snowfall. Some roads, however, were not cleared until the next day.

Public works hopes to be “a little more responsive” with the snow expected Friday, Hornstein said.

He urged residents to work from home Friday if they’re able and to be careful with on-street parking to ensure that snowplows can get through narrow roadways.

George said city crews will begin clearing primary roads before moving to smaller neighborhood streets.

PennDOT in Pittsburgh said the high occupancy vehicle lanes in Ross Township on Interstate 279 and I-579 in Pittsburgh will be closed as of 11 p.m. Thursday until further notice because of the predicted winter weather. The closures will allow crews to focus on treating the main snow routes, PennDOT said.

Gainey last year set a goal of clearing all city streets within 24 hours of snowfall, but it was met with skepticism from many city residents who often wait days for their roads to be plowed and treated. Hornstein on Thursday said his goal this year is 18 hours.

“We certainly have more people (than last year),” Hornstein said. “We’re still truck-challenged. Maintenance becomes an issue for us this time of year. But I think that expectation’s certainly reasonable.”

Plows servicing neighborhoods like Brookline, Carrick, South Side Slopes, Allentown and other parts of the Department of Public Works 4th Division will have to travel to the South Hills neighborhoods from the Strip District throughout the winter season, Hornstein said.

“It just takes them a bit longer to get there,” he said.

A new Public Works division for the area has been repeatedly delayed, but Hornstein said work on that project is slated to begin in the spring.

Salt boxes have been placed throughout neighborhoods where crews have challenges clearing the roads quickly so that residents can salt streets by hand, Hornstein said. He could not immediately say how many salt boxes are available.

Officials are working through some issues with the city’s online snow plow tracker, which Hornstein said is not picking up the eight plows that are leased and about two dozen other trucks that are having issues connecting with the system.

Trash pickup may also be delayed because of the weather, George said.

Allegheny County officials said they have 22 salt trucks with plows on standby Thursday and will deploy 32 trucks when heavier snow starts Friday. Plows will work around the clock until it stops snowing and county roads are clear, they said.

It takes drivers an average of one to two hours to complete their routes, officials said. They need another hour to return to a maintenance garage, reload with salt and restart their routes. Officials anticipate it will take longer than that Friday because of the additional traffic during the morning commute.

Officials encouraged motorists to drive slowly, leave extra space between vehicles and allow extra time for trips.

Related:

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