PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia lifted the snow emergency at noon on Tuesday, and crews will continue plowing the streets for the next few days.
Philadelphia received roughly 8 inches of snow. The Lehigh Valley and upper Bucks County saw more than 2 feet in some areas, and parts of Chester and Montgomery counties had more than 12 inches.
Managing Director Tumar Alexander said the city's primary roads are in good shape, but — as usual — it will take a bit longer to clear side streets.
"We're going to focus tonight and into (Wednesday) on our residential streets. We'll still have a considerable amount of resources, both city resources and contractor resources, out throughout the night," he said.
As flurries fell for a third day, plows roved the streets — often burying residential cars and sidewalks along the way. Smaller streets remain snow-covered and have only become passable by the few tire tracks that tried to drove through.
The region saw some sleet and freezing rain mixed in, so any snow that hasn't been touched at this point — with the below-freezing temperatures — is tougher to shovel, toss away or scrape off your car.
A reminder to drivers: Clear your cars off before heading out. As the snow melts, sheets of winter debris can fly off cars in motion, blocking visibility and hitting pedestrians or the windshields of other cars nearby.
And for pedestrians, be careful on the sidewalks, as the snow froze overnight. PennDOT is keeping that in mind for the roads, too.
"We still want people to avoid travel if possible. Restrictions have been restored and their one restrictions have been removed, but we still want people to stay off the roads. Our guys still have a lot of work to do, to cycle through those routes and continue to push back snow," said spokesperson Brad Rudolph.
To track PennDOT trucks, visit 511pa.com.
City services
Trash and recycling collections are scheduled to resume.
"Our plan is to get those trucks back on sanitation duty after 6 p.m. (Tuesday), so we expect that we will likely be collecting Wednesday's trash," Alexander said. "There may be some delays as we catch up but we expect to resume sanitation operations."
Residents with Monday and Tuesday collections should hold their refuse until next week.
If residents still haven't seen progress on their blocks, they can call 311 to request plow and salt trucks. Residents can also call 311 if there's a problem with their trash collection.
