Is snow-removal/road-salting uncommonly bad, this year? (Erie: bike, deal)

[fleetiebelle]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

It's possible they have the flu. This year's vaccine is ineffective and the epidemic is peaking right now. Flumageddon.

Or they just wanted to stay home and watch football like everyone else. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[SteelCityRising]

I will say that Polish Hill's streets have been immaculate, as always, and I am very grateful for that.

I left my abode on Brereton Street at approximately 4:35 AM today to head to the office during a snow squall. Brereton? Wet. Herron? Wet. Bigelow? Wet. Ross? Wet. Second? Wet. Municipal Courts Drive? Wet.

I came home from visiting friends out of the city at approximately 2:30 PM on Sunday. I exited at Oakland and went home that way. Bates? Wet. Atwood? Wet. Oakland? Wet. O'Hara? Admittedly snow-covered and messy (including the bike lanes). Bigelow? Slushy between Bayard and Centre. Otherwise it was then smooth sailing home.

Also, for the love of God, people, please stop calling to file police reports for icy streets. Your road not being plowed by DPW is NOT a police matter!

I can also say that as a city worker whose office has been chronically understaffed with insufficient numbers of applicants to replenish our ranks due to low interest due to the low wages it might be time for city workers to get some raises to entice more people to become city workers (including plow drivers). Just a thought.

[tyovan4]

Herron (on the Polish Hill side of Bigelow) was fine this afternoon. Herron from Centre to Bigelow was difficult. Centre itself was a mess. In the Strip, Liberty was a disaster.

[shadowfax]

45 minutes to go three miles from Oakland to Greenfield.... Granted it was a bus but that trip usually takes 15-20 minutes. We only got 3 inches of now. The current condition of the roads is inexcuseable. This morning the only plow I saw was parked on the side of a road that didn't look like the blade had ever been down.

I have an AWD car and am quite comforable driving on icy roads. I am not comfortable sharing those roads with thousands of people who are terrified and reactive.

[Copanut]

Get some snow tires and grow a pair. When did this area get so weenie? It ain't hard to drive in snow n'at. Whine, whine, whine. You guys sound like my butler.

[PGH423]

Originally Posted by gladhands

It’s not as if we’ve had a particularly snowy winter and the city is running low on salt. In my years in Pittsburgh, I never remember the roads being this bad.

We actually have a bad a snowy winter. Even before this latest storm, we were at about 50% more snowfall than normal to date (and we've likely had far more re-freezing due to cold temps).
You can see normal and current snowfall totals here:
All Snowiest US Cities | Golden Snow Globe National Snow Contest Snowiest US City Pop 100,000+

[Moby Hick]

I drove out to get a crowler and I died.

Note to self: Pour crowler into a glass next time. 32 ounce cans are awkward to drink from.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by PGH423

We actually have a bad a snowy winter. Even before this latest storm, we were at about 50% more snowfall than normal to date (and we've likely had far more re-freezing due to cold temps).
You can see normal and current snowfall totals here:
All Snowiest US Cities | Golden Snow Globe National Snow Contest Snowiest US City Pop 100,000+

I was going to say, this has been a snowier winter than usual so far and the cold has been quite extreme for a long period of time as well compared to what we usually can see in a winter. We also just had two unusually mild and not as snowy winters, so this is the winter weather we've seen in a few years. Most people have 8-10 inches of snow in their back yards after today, been awhile since we've had this much snow in less than a week here.

This also shows while Pittsburgh isn't the snowiest city certainly, among large American cities it is pretty snowy as only one city above us has a bigger population (though Boston and a couple other New England ones could jump back ahead tomorrow after the storm goes through there.)

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by copanut

get some snow tires and grow a pair. When did this area get so weenie? It ain't hard to drive in snow n'at. Whine, whine, whine. You guys sound like my butler.

Bingo.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

It's possible they have the flu. This year's vaccine is ineffective and the epidemic is peaking right now. Flumageddon.

The flu vaccine is not "ineffective". There are 3-4 viral strains in the vaccine, depending on the brand of vaccine. All have H3N2 strain. That strain was about 10% effective in Australia during their winter (our summer). There are no efficacy figures yet for the US. The efficacy for the other strains was higher in Australia. It's more likely they have the flu if they refused the shot.