Be patient, Kenney says, plows are coming

Mayor Kenney is asking residents whose narrow city streets are still choked in snow to be patient - the plows, he says, are coming.

"We're getting to your streets," the mayor said Monday afternoon. "We've got to take care of the big ones first to get everything rolling. . . . We haven't forgotten you. We're coming."

City officials said at a Monday briefing that 1,800 of Philadelphia's 2,300 miles of roadway had been plowed and that they hoped to have all roadways passable by Wednesday.

About 10,000 tons of salt have been spread around the slick and icy streets and sidewalks.

With most main streets plowed, smaller streets will be the focus in coming days, said Clarena Tolson, Kenney's deputy managing director for infrastructure and transportation.

The challenge of the weekend's storm is that with 22 inches or more on the ground, there is too much snow for the small plows that are able to fit down the city's narrowest streets, Tolson said.

The city is using compact front-end loaders to lift and push snow from such streets.

"That means for plowing a street, instead of taking two to three minutes per block, now it takes one half-hour to 45 minutes for one block to plow," Tolson said.

The snow gets transported and dumped in an undisclosed city-owned location.

"If we say where, private companies will go use them," Tolson said.

Kenney, dressed in a suit and tie after a weekend of boots and snow attire, said he understood the angst that comes with being snowed in.

"I recognize, if it's your street, it's important to you, and if you're not out yet, you're frustrated," he said.

The Philadelphia Parking Authority will not enforce kiosk and meter parking rules Tuesday to allow for cleanup to continue. Trash pickup will resume Tuesday.

In the city's 311 center, which is taking nonemergency calls and requests for salt and plows, staff reported at 6 a.m. The office has responded to more than 9,000 calls and received about 1,500 requests through Twitter and email.

People are encouraged to use 311 to report non-emergencies as the cleanup continues.

The mayor's first month on the job has included a near-fatal attack on a Philadelphia police officer and now the city's fourth-largest snowstorm. He spent the weekend traveling around the city witnessing scenes of struggle and neighborliness.

On Saturday, he went to Whitaker Avenue in South Philadelphia with a group of city plow drivers he called "soldiers in the war against Mother Nature." In Fishtown, a group of police officers got stuck en route to a medical call, and he watched residents come out with shovels to help dig them out. Sunday night, Kenney was in North Philadelphia, where police helped a Temple University student push his car out of a snow bank.

"I don't like these snow events, and I hope we don't have another one - we probably will - but I think our citizens really got together and helped us help them," Kenney said. "People, when it comes to hard things to do, people do step up and work together."

jterruso@phillynews.com

215-854-5506@juliaterruso

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A look at the city's response to the storm this weekend:

1,800

miles of city streets plowed.

10,000

tons of salt used.

390

plows in operation.

1,600

city workers in Streets, Office of Emergency Management, and other offices.

23,000

police and fire responses over the weekend.

34

percent increase in fire and EMS calls.

102

homeless provided supportive services.

2,000

individuals in city shelters.

9,000

calls to the city's 311 center.

- Julia Terruso

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