Philadelphia residents still navigating through icy roads after winter storm
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Streets left untreated after Monday night's storm turned into sheets of ice early Wednesday.
The storm brought the city its first measurable snow in almost two years.
The Philadelphia Streets Department said it worked to pretreat roads across the city. But the snow turned to freezing rain on Tuesday, and the temperatures fell sharply, which led to ice on streets and sidewalks that weren't plowed or salted.
In Manayunk, crews were out on Main Street early Wednesday morning working to pick the ice and salt the sidewalks.
SEE ALSO: AccuWeather: Not as chilly tomorrow, accumulating snow Friday
"It's been a little rough," said Gerordito Cruz, with the Manayunk Development Corporation. "We gotta do what we gotta do. We gotta make sure it's nice and clean so nobody will slip and fall out here because it's bad. It's slippery."
Side streets and sidewalks are packed down with ice in parts of South Philadelphia.
"We live on a little side street down here in South Philly and nobody's come to plow it yet. It's still pretty icy, hard to get out of your parking spot, and hard to walk on the sidewalks," said Johanna Harvey of Pennsport.
The City of Philadelphia Streets Department has an online resource where you can track that kind of activity, but when you click on the PlowPHL tab, it says "there is no active snow event."
The city advises residents to report icy sidewalks and roads to 311 so they know where to dispatch crews.
South Philadelphia neighbors say the city's response has gotten better but they'd like to see efforts stepped up even more.
"We were more prepared this time, but there's still a lot of clearing to do in the streets," said Chris Benitez.
The sound of tires spinning are common in Chestnut Hill since this week's snowfall became covered in ice.
Residents near Winston Road and Moreland Avenue say the hilly conditions make icy events treacherous.
"We were sliding on Ardleigh (Street) and then had to get out and push the car, but that didn't do anything, and then down the street we almost hit that pole down there," said Sye Mirsky of Chestnut Hill.
"I was walking my big 70 pound dog today, even his little legs flew out from under him," added Rebecca Clarke of Chestnut Hill.
In Wynnefield Heights, Action News spoke with Loveness Conteh as she tried to clean off her car on Balwynne Park Road.
"The street was not cleaned, so you have to take it slow. It's all frozen up. Everything is frozen," she said.
Brian Bishara, the owner of Fountain Street Auto in Roxborough, said the cold weather can put a lot of strain on cars, especially the car battery.
"We'll see people leave their car for a few days because they don't feel like digging it out and dealing with it," he said. "And then they come out to a dead battery because it was borderline at that point and this finally put it over the edge."
Bishara recommends immediately cleaning your car after the snow, so you don't clog any drains or ports in the windshield.
"Another thing we see a lot with the newer cars, they have a lot of new sensors, lane departures, stuff like that, for safety reasons. They won't work properly if the snow is blocking them," Bishara explained.
