‘Doing the best we can’ to clear Youngstown streets

January 16, 2018 at 10:42p.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

While a Youngstown official says the city was doing everything it could to clear snow, numerous streets were slushy messes with some of them untouched several hours after the storm.

“We’re not sitting around,” said Charles Shasho, deputy director of public works. “We have every available resource on the roads. We’ve been spoiled the last couple of years with lighter storms. The guys are working hard, and we’re doing the best we can. I understand people are upset with the side streets.”

City plows were tied up Monday night and Tuesday on the main streets clearing snow resulting in the side streets having to wait.

“We had to go back on the main roads a few times because the snow was falling steadily,” Shasho said. “The main roads are our top priority.”

That made the Tuesday morning commute somewhat of an adventure for motorists.

And callers to The Vindicator complained that from sidewalks downtown to neighborhood streets – most were an impassable mess.

Shasho said the city is solely responsible for plowing all its streets. Townships are only responsible for side streets with the Ohio Department of Transportation plowing state routes and Mahoning County taking care of the county roads, Shasho said.

“We can’t go right into the side streets,” he said. “The townships have to do just the side streets. State statute says the city has to do the entire city. I understand there are areas in the city that are pretty bad. Unfortunately, we’ve had to go on the main roads several times; sometimes they have to be done three times. We only have so many resources to deploy. But our guys do a great job.”