DETROIT (WXYZ) — Detroit residents woke up to a pleasant surprise Monday morning as city crews cleared residential streets following Sunday's snowfall, even though the storm didn't meet the typical 6-inch threshold for full city plowing.
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The city of Detroit expanded its snow removal efforts after several inches of snow blanketed the area, deploying private contractors to clear many residential side streets. Typically, at least 6 inches of snow must fall in a single storm before a full city plow is activated, but with freezing temperatures and continuing snowfall, the city decided it was time to act.
"It's a little bit loose. Part of what we look at is what snow have we had before today. So last night we measured pretty close to 5 inches in Detroit, and because we've had snow over the last couple of weeks and the forecast over the next two weeks is supposed to continue to be cold, we thought this would be a nice service to provide the residents," Sam Krassenstein, Deputy Director of Detroit Public Works, said.
Tradina Waller was clearing her driveway after Sunday's storm and said she was happy to see plow trucks come down her street.
"It's getting better," Waller said.
The city has over 1,800 miles of residential streets to plow and typically only does so when a single snowfall event reaches 6 inches or more. When that threshold is met, the Department of Public Works sends out private contractors to plow neighborhood streets.
Those contractors began clearing Detroit's residential streets early Monday morning. While some side streets on the east side weren't plowed at all, Krassenstein said they're making progress.
"We're about 75 to 80 percent through the residential streets," Krassenstein said.
However, not all residents were satisfied with the snow removal efforts. Dennis Phelps, a cab driver who got stuck at the intersection of Grady and East Willis, said the city needs to plow more often.
"My first time stuck down here on a residential street," Phelps said. "I believe they should come out much, much sooner."
Delano Benson, another Detroit resident, echoed similar concerns about the need for more frequent plowing.
"We need the salt trucks to do the side streets, too," Benson said. "They need more trucks out here."
While some streets had been plowed, residents like Benson wished crews would make a second pass. The city says they're planning to do just that and encourages residents to report any streets that haven't been adequately cleared.
"If they find by tomorrow morning that a street hasn't been touched or not done to a satisfactory condition, they can go online to improve Detroit dot online or on the phone and report that we will investigate that and make sure it's taken care of," Krassenstein said.
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