Nutter: Shovel your sidewalks

Mayor Nutter on Friday defended his administration's decision to resume trash pickup with plowing still to be done, and he identified unshoveled sidewalks, snow mountains and ice flying off moving vehicles as his chief public safety concerns as the city emerges from more than 45 inches of snow in a week.

The city will begin writing citations for sidewalks that are impassable. "Clearing sidewalks is not only a city ordinance, it's a public safety issue as well," said Nutter, speaking to reporters in the hall outside his office. "I'm not saying it has to be perfect ... but give it your best shot."

A number of Streets Department employees who were detailed to snow removal in recent days are picking up trash today. Nutter said the decision was a "balancing act," taking into consideration that "storing two weeks of trash coming off Super Bowl week could be a bit of a challenge for some people."

Nutter also urged anyone with a car to clear all the snow off it before driving, and expressed disbelief that anyone would take to the highways with six inches of snow on their roof that could turn into an icy projectile. "That is going to cause an accident," Nutter said. Huge snow piles created during plowing are also a public safety concern that will be addressed, the mayor said.

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