Regarding the article “Did Pittsburgh forget how to winter?” (Feb. 1, TribLIVE): I attempted to go to work on Feb. 1, and I did experience the “35 minutes to drive one mile” speed rate. However, I only drove that one mile, from my home in Oakmont to the second light in Verona, before turning around and going home. I can walk that distance in half the time.
The Pittsburghers who forgot how to winter were those responsible for clearing the roads. Somehow, they thought that the two-hour delay applied to them, not just school students. Not one road was treated, or even cleared. I couldn’t even stop without sliding on level roads going less than 5 miles per hour.
People can learn to drive on snow, but no one can drive on ice — you know, that clear stuff hiding beneath the powdery snow that morning.
The weather reports properly predicted this snow event. But even the night before, road crew managers were on TV stating that there was enough salt and other material on the road, and that there would be no need for further treatment. Wrong answer! The proof is in the morning’s commuting nightmare.
Don’t blame it on the Pittsburgh drivers, at least not those who paid their tax dollars to have the roads cleared by the time they drove to work — not just two hours later, when their kids went to school.
The inability to winter in Pittsburgh award goes to those who did the scheduling for the road crews.
Elaine Luther
Oakmont