CLEVELAND — Relentless snowstorms have caused problems on Cleveland's roads. Since Jan. 17, more than 15 inches of snow have fallen in Cleveland, leaving the roads a bit of a mess.
This is Gina Knoll's first winter in Cleveland, and the impassable streets took her by surprise.
"The side streets especially were pretty crazy," she said. "I had three firemen help me dig my car out of the snow, which I wouldn't have been able to get out if they weren't there. So I was very thankful for them."
In the days following big snowfalls, many side roads remained impassable. Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb detailed a plan to get the roads cleared faster. Bonnie Teeuwen, Bibb's chief operating officer, said that plan includes a change to the city's snow policy, outfitting other city pickup trucks with plow equipment, and a new snowplow tracker website.
"We have those 10 additional trucks to start in the residential areas as well," Teeuwen said. "So it won't be one and then the other. It will be overlapping so we can go to the primaries and we can start in the residential areas sooner than we normally would do."
Teeuwen said the city has 49 active dump trucks and 13 pickup trucks. She said the snowplow tracker website will allow residents to track which roads have been cleared and when plows are in their neighborhoods.
"It will actually show you the route that it has plowed," Teeuwen said. "So if it's going down Carnegie, the street will be highlighted in green that it plowed Carnegie."
Knoll said she's excited to hear about the snowplow tracker website and hopes it helps get the snow off the roads quicker.
"I think that's great," she said. "I think most important is actually get the snowplows out and then the app, or the website, will be an added benefit if you can help plan. If you know you have a shift coming up at work or whatever it is, if you can know that your streets plowed just to maybe sleep better at night and not worry about digging your snow out or even being able to get to work the next day."
The snowplow tracker website is live now.