The city of Akron provided The Ohio Star on Wednesday with an update on the conditions of its streets after some residents found themselves unable to leave their homes three days after Sunday’s winter storm.
“We have completed all of the first, second and third priority streets as of noon today (48 hours after the snow stopped with the most event accumulation Akron’s had in the past 25 years),” Stephanie Marsh, Communications and Media Supervisor for Akron Mayor Daniel Horrigan told The Star. “All streets are open and passable.”
Several residents told The Akron Beacon-Journal that some residents of the city were upset over the disruption of their work and other routines due to the roads being unnavigable. One of those residents, Andrea Travis, directed her frustration towards the mayor’s office.
“Everyone in my household had to call off work Monday and Tuesday,” she reportedly said. “My boss who lives in Medina was willing to come and pick me up this morning because she literally could not afford to have me take another day off. I don’t understand how the mayor’s office expects residents to be able to keep their jobs.”
“We have 52 trucks working on the cleanup of intersections and streets where cars were parked and have moved, salting areas with packed snow coverage that the plows couldn’t remove and loading out the many piles of snow in business districts and around intersections that block views, etc,” Marsh said in her email to The Star.
Marsh also noted that street parking is still banned while plow drivers finish the job.
“We are addressing each and every service request that comes in through 311 as soon as we can get to them,” Marsh said. “The parking ban is still in effect for the time being and we will issue another update once that has lifted.”
Northern Ohio, including Akron, saw more than a foot of snow accumulate from Sunday night into Monday morning. It then continued to snow lightly on Monday and Tuesday, complicating the snow removal efforts.
Akron is bracing for more snow early next week.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mayor Daniel Horrigan” by City of Akron, Ohio – Mayor’s Office.
