The snow is melting, but that may be cold comfort for Pittsburghers who waited days for their streets to be plowed or salted after the city was blanketed with the heaviest snowfall in three years. Although the city’s Department of Public Works (DPW) reported “moderate successes” in clearing roads, residents and local talking heads complained loudly on social media that it took days for workers to clear side streets — if they cleared them at all.
For those who felt the city’s response was inadequate, “They’re right. Plain and simple. How can you try to drive or walk through the City right now and say that they’re wrong?” City Controller Rachael Heisler tells Pittsburgh City Paper.
Heisler says the problem is straightforward: the city’s vehicle fleet is in rough shape.
“In the 2018-2019 winter season, the City had 144 vehicles available for snow removal. Last year we had 103, with 37 down for maintenance, so effectively 66,” Heisler says. “Yesterday, the administration said that, this weekend, the City was operating with 57 trucks and 13 reserve units. That’s as clear an indicator as you can find of what’s happened with our fleet.”
Adding to local uncertainty was the failure of Pittsburgh’s Snow Plow Tracker software. The webpage hosting the tool appears to have been taken down, and Reddit users speculated that issues with the software’s developer were to blame. On Dec. 16, City Paper saw requests for Snow and Ice Removal flood the City’s 311 service, with dozens coming in every minute over an hour-long period.
Representatives of DPW and the Mayor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Heavy snowfall piles up in Squirrel Hill on Dec. 15, 2025. Credit: Mars Johnson
Residents have given DPW’s response a chilly reception, with some calling the lack of response “unacceptable” and posting complaints on social media. Local radio host Marty Griffin, an outspoken critic of Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration, posted and reshared multiple videos of struggling delivery vehicles and unplowed roadways. Griffin, a Mt. Lebanon resident, called the City’s response “ridiculous.”
Complaints on Reddit also addressed neighbors’ unwillingness to shovel and the “slippy” surfaces of the city’s new piano-key crosswalks.
“We’re 3 days out from the storm the city has really dropped the ball this time around,” u/PhilosophizingPanda posted.
“I can tell you right now that both Pitt and [Carnegie Mellon] campus were not touched,” said u/NoMaans.
“[W]e have a fleet crisis. This is why the only real solution for the 2026 budget is a tax increase,” u/torcsandantlers wrote.
Heisler agrees. Beyond snow plows, she says vehicle repairs and replacements will be critical to improving public safety and sentiment, noting that “all departments that rely on City vehicles — fire, EMS, police, everything.”
She says deferred maintenance has been a problem across multiple administrations, but recent budget negotiations, coupled with the heavy snowfall, have made City workers’ challenges — and, in turn, Pittsburgh residents’ complaints — more acute. As City Council mulls a tax increase, Heisler says she’d like to see Pittsburgh “get better at the basics.”
“I’ve been very vocal about the fact that we need the Mayor and City Council to prioritize investments in our fleet, so I hope that happens,” Heisler says. “There won’t be any meaningful, noticeable change in our storm response until it does.”
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