AKRON, Ohio — Snow moved in in Akron Friday afternoon, with more expected Saturday and Sunday. While city leaders don’t expect major accumulations, snow plow drivers aren’t taking any chances.
“Right now we’re at level four, which is our highest priority. We have all 52 trucks in service right now,” said Akron Public Works Director Jon Malish.
The crews’ immediate priority was primarily to salt the main and secondary roads.
The city does not expect to reach its threshold (typically five inches) for snow removal or treatment of residential streets over the weekend.
However, Malish said people who live on residential streets that need to be plowed or salted can call 311. The city will send trucks and aim to reach those neighborhoods within 12 hours.
In February 2024, Akron Mayor Shammas Malik announced new real-time mapping technology. This technology equipped snow plows with GPS systems, allowing the city to monitor the location of trucks and allowing residents to check online when streets were last serviced.
“It sends a satellite signal back to us and we can track exactly where that truck was,” Malish said.
However, in recent weeks, Public Works discovered that snow plow tracking technology was not transmitting information to the dashboard accurately.
The city is working to resolve the problem.
“I don’t know right now,” Malish said. “All I know is he must have done something with an upgrade.”
Akron leaders hope the upgrade will happen next week. Mapping technology was temporarily removed from the city’s snow and ice removal website, but it was restored Friday afternoon so residents could track some of the progress.
In the meantime, Malish offered some practical advice to drivers.
“Take it easy, really. Take your time.”
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