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Lake effect snow storm slams South Buffalo

Driving ban is place in Buffalo south of William Street

BUFFALO, N.Y. — In the City of Buffalo, this storm has hit South Buffalo the hardest.

The driving ban was lifted for the northern half of the city on Friday, but was put back in place from William Street down due to the heavy snow that fell early in the day.

The travel ban is allowing plows to get to the main, secondary, and residential streets using the city's new snow removal plan.

At one point on Friday, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown says they had more than 100 plows on the streets including private contractors hired by the city to help out. 

They are using the new GPS tracking on the city's plows, and the mayor says the new plan is working well. Mayor Brown just really wants people to stay off the roads so the crews can do their jobs without drivers getting in the way.

"The use of private contractors is kind of an innovation with our snow plan. We wanted to get into the residentials more quickly. The private contractors are helping us do that. We've retained sixty private contractors, and they are working very well with city, county, and state crews out there, and we have about 55 vehicles, plows, in South Buffalo right now," Mayor Brown said.

Also, police response times in Buffalo are not delayed because of the snow, and the mayor says if you don't live in the driving ban area, you still shouldn't be going out if you don't have to.

"We need people to stay at home in that area of the city. Please do not drive. People attempted it yesterday. There were a number of vehicles that got stuck when the snow is falling between three to four to five inches an hour, you can't beat it. You are gonna get stuck," Mayor Brown said.

Again, as of Friday afternoon, the driving ban in Buffalo is only for areas south of William Street. Of course this could all change as the snow band moves north later Friday night.

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