In some Pittsburgh neighborhoods, snow doesn’t create a winter wonderland. It creates treacherous road conditions that too often go unplowed and untreated.

Following Wednesday night’s snowfall, City Councilman Anthony Coghill received five or six calls from residents who were concerned about snow-covered roads.

“That’s a walk in the park,” Coghill said, explaining that he received closer to 200 calls complaining about road conditions following a snowstorm last Christmas.

“I get phone calls every time it snows,” he said.

Coghill represents the 4th District, which encompasses Beechview, Bon Air, Brookline, Carrick, Mt. Washington and Overbrook — all hilly neighborhoods. Snow removal, he said, is a major concern for his constituents.

“I know it’s a problem,” he said. “We just need more resources.”

On Thursday afternoon, snowy streets frustrated Mike Hancock, who lives on Lacona Street in Carrick. He reported about two inches of snow still on the street, along with ice.

The icy road conditions during Wednesday’s snowfall caused a FedEx truck to slide into his car, Hancock said.

Hancock said it’s common to see cars sliding on nearby roads, and weather-related crashes occur too frequently.

Around Christmas, a woman slid and got her car stuck in a neighbor’s yard, Hancock said. It took hours to get the car out — and when a truck finally came, it dropped salt but didn’t plow the road.

“One day somebody’s going to get hurt or killed, and I believe the city’s responsible for that,” Hancock said.

In a press release on Monday, city officials said crews would work “around the clock” to salt and plow roads until the winter storm passed and warned drivers to expect “slippery road conditions” as crews worked.

City officials anticipated a week of “snow events,” said Timothy McNulty, communications director for Mayor Bill Peduto’s office.

“DPW (Department of Public Works) crews have been working around the clock to address Pittsburgh’s 1,200 miles of streets and will continue to do so through the weekend,” McNulty said Thursday.

McNulty encouraged residents to monitor Pittsburgh’s Snow Plow Tracker for updates on citywide salting and plowing efforts.

Coghill said the situation does seem to be improving, but “it’s still not up to par.”

His office launched an investigation to determine why the snow removal process has been ineffective and inefficient for his constituents. With the help of the mayor’s office, Coghill said, they’ve already addressed some of the problems they discovered.

One of the recent improvements was doubling the amount of salt used to treat the roads. The city is now using 800 pounds of salt per mile, rather than 400 pounds per mile, Coghill said.

He also worked with union leaders to ensure there would be enough workers to man the snowplows after a short-staffed crew on Christmas hindered efforts to clean up the messy winter storm. During that storm, 60 of the city’s 90 trucks sat idle because there were no drivers to operate them.

Six trucks were broken down at the time, highlighting the issues with equipment Coghill described as “outdated and old.”

A newer fleet of trucks, Coghill said, would be a huge help for residents, especially those stuck on steep hills that become particularly dangerous in bad weather.

Sandra Bendig lives on a hill in Overbrook. In the six years she’s lived there, she said, she’s witnessed a fire truck unable to get down the hill, an elderly neighbor try to shovel the road by hand and many cars slide trying to navigate the snowy street.

“Not every one of us can shovel the street in front of our houses, but that’s the only way our street would get cleared,” she said. “There are times when we just have to wait till the snow melts.”

Bendig said her husband, an essential worker, struggles to drive to work when their hill is covered in snow and ice. So far this year, there have been three days when he’s been confronted with the inability to drive to work because of road conditions. But skipping work jeopardizes his job, she said.

“It’s either your livelihood or your safety and you shouldn’t have to make a choice between the two,” Bendig said.

Bendig, who voiced her concerns at a City Council meeting last week, said she was pleasantly surprised to see her road was cleared Thursday morning — but she’s not getting her hopes up yet.

“It’s a one-off so far,” she said. “This is wonderful. Let’s just see if it keeps going.”

Despite some progress, there’s still work to be done, particularly in Coghill’s South Hills district, which, he said, is “no doubt” the worst for snow removal.

“I’m very, very uncomfortable with the rest of this year,” he said. “I don’t think we have all the kinks worked out yet.”

Coghill said he’s calling for more experienced drivers, more salt use and smaller, nimbler trucks that would be more adept at navigating steep hills with cars parked on both sides, which is common in many Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

“With the topography we have, it just absolutely is crying for more resources,” he said, adding that he felt his district “needs more than any other district.” He cited parts of Brookline, Carrick and Overbrook as contending with the worst snow removal problems in Pittsburgh.

Coghill said he’s more optimistic about next winter, when a new public works facility will be operational.

“Things are getting better,” he said. “We still have a long way to go though.”

Hancock said most officials give their concerns “no attention,” though he applauded Coghill’s attention to the issue.

“We’re assured that it’s going to be addressed and it never is,” Hancock said. “I want to see them actually plowing snow and ice off this road within 24 to 48 hours, tops. We’re taxpayers. We pay to have city services, but nobody sees us.”

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