Pittsburgh to add 12 snowplows to city fleet for rest of winter

Pittsburgh’s fleet of snowplows will have 12 new vehicles for the rest of the winter season.

City Council on Tuesday approved a measure to reallocate about $470,000 from the city’s budget to buy six snowplows and lease six more for the remainder of winter.

The original proposal included taking more than $470,000 from the capital budget. An amendment passed Tuesday left some of that money — funds earmarked for a reconstruction project at Leslie Park — in the capital budget. About $51,000 is now being taken from the operating budget, according to City Council Budget Director Bill Urbanic.

This comes after some council members voiced concerns about using capital budget funds to pay for a two-month lease on six of the plows.

The city previously ordered 17 additional snowplows that have been delayed because of global supply chain issues. The vehicles being purchased and leased through this measure should be available much more quickly, said Jake Pawlak, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The six vehicles being purchased are new Chevrolet pickups with plows and salt spreaders. The city will lease four similar pickups and two Ford dump trucks with salt spreaders and plows.

City officials plan to distribute the vehicles across the city.

This comes as Mayor Ed Gainey has promised to improve the city’s snow removal after a series of winter storms left some roads untreated for days.

Council members have voiced concerns with the city’s aging fleet, issues with their snowplow tracker and complaints from residents that roads have remained dangerous for days after snowfall has stopped.

“They don’t want to hear any more excuses as to why snow removal’s not done in the city,” Council President Theresa Kail-Smith said, acknowledging that Department of Public Works crews are “doing the best they can” with limited and aging equipment.