Forget the winter wonderland.

Any cozy feelings engendered by this weekend's monster snowstorm -- the impromptu snowball fights, the fairytale-like snowscapes, the neighborly sidewalk shoveling -- melted into a puddle of bellyaching Monday over Pittsburgh's unplowed, impassable streets.

Even as city public works crews labored round the clock to clear the 21.4 inches of snow that fell on the city Friday and Saturday, by Monday morning, the public's patience seemed to be wearing thin.

Sean Cannon, of Shaler, thought he was making good time on Route 28 toward Downtown until he arrived at the 40th Street Bridge at 7:30 a.m.

It took him an hour to cross it.

"The cars couldn't go anywhere," he said. "I find it hard to believe the city didn't plow this bridge -- it's a main artery into Lawrenceville, the Strip and Bloomfield. Whoever's in charge is doing a heckuva job, Brownie."

On Forest Glen, a steep, dead-end street in Squirrel Hill with about 32 homes on it, no one has been able to get out except via a path created by some cross-country skiiers, reported Gary Schwager, a resident there.

"It's pretty hopeless, Mr. Schwager said. "We are paralyzed."

Mr. Schwager's street exemplifies why snow removal in Pittsburgh can be so difficult: It's a steep, dead end road, winding down into a glen, with little sunlight -- so snow remains on the streets longer -- and a number of elderly residents who are unable to shovel very effectively.

Residents appealed to city Councilman Doug Shields and were still hoping for a response last night, Mr. Schwager said.

Joe Renckly, of Linden Place in Deutschtown, noted that he lives three blocks from Allegheny General Hospital and his street -- which is quite steep -- hasn't been plowed.

"I was in New York City one winter and got snowed in, but the city put snow plows on its garbage trucks and completely plowed the streets in 24 hours. Now that is how a smart city gets things done," he said.

By mid-Monday, city officials seemed to sense that a public relations debacle might be in the making. Like pothole patching and garbage collection, snow removal is perceived as central to a mayor's job, and, if improperly handled, become a political nightmare -- just ask former Chicago Mayor Michael Bilandic, who lost the 1979 mayoral primary after a series of major snowstorms paralyzed the city.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who left town Friday to celebrate his 30th birthday in the Laurel Highlands and got stranded there, told reporters that forecasts that morning called for 4 to 8 inches of snow. Soon after he got back in town Sunday he was at the city's Emergency Operations Center talking -- he noted pointedly -- to the same people he had been talking to all weekend by computer and phone while at the Laurel Highlands.

In a news release announcing interim approval of an emergency disaster declaration, Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris reminded Pittsburghers that the city's 1,200 miles of narrow and sloped city streets means crews must plow snow the same distance "from here to Miami."

"I urge everyone to remain calm and let the administration concentrate on getting the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible," she said.

All Monday afternoon on Twitter, under the tag #snOMGpgh, frustrated motorists posted updates on road conditions, posting photos of fire hydrants peeking out of newly plowed snow -- "Something just wrong about plowing in a fire hydrant," observed Erin_BTBT -- and snowplow sightings.

"Just saw a plow in Greenfield. Woo!" wrote a tweeter calling himself FunkyDung.

"And here I was thinking Forbes and Fifth were main roads. Silly me!" added Carriechiz.

"Looks like the War on Snow is going about as well as the War on Drugs, War on Poverty, and War on Terror," FunkyDung countered.

Tweeting motorists weren't the only ones complaining. Pittsburgh Parking Authority meter readers who were told to shovel snow around public garages weren't happy about that, either.

"They are doing jobs that are to be done by facility operators from the Teamsters union," said Shawn Beck, union steward for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2719.

"They're not getting the training that they need to be shown how to properly shovel snow. ... They're not getting trained in how to lift 50-pound bags of salt.

"One's already down ... with an injury," he said, "and I've got more wounded people coming in."

All the bellyaching triggered the inevitable backlash in one online forum, according to Randy Strothman of the North Side, after he cheerily posted an e-mail on a listserv he'd created for his neighbors about the cozy "snow party" scene Saturday at Bistro to Go, near his home.

"Funny to see everyone walking down the middle of the streets here. Snow is bringing everyone together!!" He posted.

He got a sharp reply.

"This is unbelievable," responded another poster. "Neither Fifth Avenue nor Smithfield Street have been plowed or salted. The county courts are closed; and so is the county treasurer's office. Yet the people at Carnegie Library are up and running. Think about it."

That, in turn, got Debra Mortillaro's hackles up. A resident of Fineview, one of the city's steeper neighborhoods, she reported that a city snowplower cheerfully agreed to do a pass down a nearby alley after the neighbors had cleared two-thirds of it.

"I'm so tired of all the negative posts," she said.

There was some residual good will out there. On West Carson Street, people were still posing for photos in front of a 12-to-15 foot snowman in front of Kyklops Tattoo.

And artist Vince Ornato, who was scheduled to do caricatures at Seven Springs Ski Resort this weekend, noted that the resort's staff -- experienced in snow removal -- were having just as tough a time as city workers in dealing with dozens of cars abandoned in 34-inch snow.

Mr. Ornato noted that this was the fourth-worst storm in history, and that many people were struggling with far more serious problems than a blocked street -- no electricity, closed businesses, elderly people trapped, medical emergencies.

"Grandma was right: Count your blessings," he told his fellow posters on the North Side listserv. "GEEZE!!!

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