Pittsburgh considers proposal to buy, rent additional snow plows

Pittsburgh City Council is considering a measure that would allow the city to buy and rent additional snow plows this year.

Legislation sponsored by Councilman Anthony Coghill would reallocate more than $470,000 from the capital budget to buy six new snow plow trucks and rent six more. The funding was identified by Coghill in partnership with Mayor Ed Gainey’s office and the Office of Management and Budget.

The legislation shows money would come from funding for park reconstruction and other areas.

The city has faced multiple snow storms already this year, leaving some city residents waiting days for their roads to be cleared.

Mayor Ed Gainey has promised to improve the city’s snow response.

“It is clear that we must make additional investments and improvements in our equipment and operations to effectively and efficiently prepare and respond to winter weather,” Gainey said.

A separate order of 17 new trucks has been delayed because of global supply chain issues. The Department of Public Works is contending with an older fleet and has taken some vehicles out of service for maintenance.

“After discussing snow treatment operations, I am grateful Mayor Gainey agrees with me that more vehicles and drivers are needed before improvements can be made, but I am even more grateful that he has found a way to immediately put more vehicles on city streets,” Coghill said.

Coghill said there already have been some recent improvements to the city’s snow removal efforts, including allowing salt truck drivers to use more salt and requiring crews to work overtime during snow storms.

“This council has been addressing snow removal for a very long time,” Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said. “We understand that our crews do an amazing job. They need equipment. They need the tools to do the job.”

Council members Bobby Wilson and Coghill also called for improvements to the city’s snow plow tracker and the systems they use to determine which roads have been cleared.

Gainey also announced that the Department of Public Works hired nine additional truck drivers and four laborers to increase staffing for the rest of the winter season.

City Council fast-tracked the legislation introduced Tuesday to allow the city to buy and rent additional snow plows. The measure will appear on Wednesday’s standing committee agenda for further discussion and a preliminary vote. The measure could be ready for a final vote as early as next week.