CLEVELAND — The city of Cleveland had plenty of notice ahead of the storm to prepare for snow removal on streets. It also has a new snow plow tracking system to help be more efficient during snow removal. So, how did they do? Some drivers said they want more for their money.
We caught up with Marleena Starr waiting for a tow truck after sliding off a snowy, slushy Chester Avenue just in front of Dave’s Supermarket.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Starr. “If you notice, that side is much clearer. This (side) is terrible all the way down from the hospital. So, it’s just a mess!’
As we drove around early this afternoon, it was pretty much hit-or-miss on road conditions. Some, like East 55th St., looked good, but many others were still snow-covered.
“(Road conditions are) terrible,” said Starr. “I’m kind of upset because we all pay city taxes.”
Jason Jonela and his delivery crew had just finished dropping off a table to a home near Payne Avenue when their truck got stuck. “It’s kind of annoying just because (we)… pay taxes and stuff like that,” said Jonela. “You feel like it should be going to something.”
Cleveland Public Works Director Frank Williams called the snow plow response decent and that they prepared well. He said there was a significant snowband that hurt some efforts, but the main streets were in fair condition.
“We have to take information in and continue to learn and get better at each event,” said Williams.
The city has a new snow plow tracking system that shows near real-time results of where plows have been in the city. There were several times today when we tried to access that on the city’s site, but it failed to pop up.
RELATED: Here's how to find Cleveland's real-time interactive snowplow tracker map
“As we know, man makes (the system) and sometimes there are some tweaks that need to happen,” said Williams. “But for the most part we are seeing pretty accurate readings from our equipment.”
Director Williams said he wants quality plowing that provides safety and passability.
“After the event, we typically have a debriefing where we talk to staff, hear what worked, what didn’t work,” said Williams. “And what changes we may need to make to our business process.”
He also told us they have nine more drivers that still need to be put into plow trucks after being trained. The drivers we talked to hope that happens way before the next snow event.
“Get some more out here, like fast,” said Jonela. “We need this stuff cleared out. People got stuff to do.”
Williams also said they did practice plowing skills during the summer, but some of the techniques are a bit difficult to master on dry pavement without snow.
