BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Common Council on Tuesday was given the City of Buffalo’s 2022-20223 snow removal plan by the Department of Public Works, Parks and Streets.
It featured a GPS tracking system for snow plows, new equipment and a plan for plowing roads 24 hours after snowfall in an attempt to address the issues that many residents had last year where they said it took days upon days for the streets to finally be clear of the snow.
North District Council Member Joe Golombek said cannot happen for another year.
“That was unacceptable, not just for me but for taxpayers in the City of Buffalo,” he said. “Within 24 hours, every street should have plows go down so that you could get emergency vehicles at least in and out of those neighborhoods.”
Another notable aspect from this proposal is the new GPS Snow Fighting Tracking System that will allow residents to track which streets in the area have been plowed in real time.
It’s an addition the councilman says he is particularly excited about because it has already been tested in the City of Syracuse when it was introduced there last year.
But he says there are still issues with it, as it doesn’t show an estimated time arrival for future plowings to allow residents to prepare for their morning commute.
“I look outside, and if it says the estimated time of arrival is going to be at 8 o'clock, I'm not going to go nuts at 7:30 a.m. trying to get out of my house,” he said. "I would rather go to work, if possible, a little late and not get stuck.”
The councilman says that no snow plan has ever been shot down by the council in history so he is optimistic that this plan will be put in place when the first snow hits later this month.