Manning the phones at the city's 311 response line, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl today said that city crews remain focused on clearing snow from primary roads, and will turn their attention back to residential streets when the snow stops.

Trash collection is not scheduled to start again tomorrow, and it's not clear whether it will commence over the weekend. Mr. Ravenstahl said garbage trucks would just get in the way now, when the focus is on clearing roads and public safety.

"That's our biggest concern, is that a resident that's on a street somewhere that's a senior citizen that feels helpless," he said.

The mayor bristled at suggestions that suburbs have done a far better job at clearing streets than the city has.

"In some cases they're a little bit better than the city, I'll acknowledge that," he said. "But they have challenges, just like we do. Their schools are closed, just like ours are. It's not the city of Pittsburgh alone that's dealing with this issue."

He continued to blame the city's inability to get some streets cleared since Friday's snow started on the sheer volume of precipitation, and on the need to divert salt trucks from routes in order to assist public safety vehicles stuck in the weekend storm.

"Once that snow compacted on those main routes, it was very, very difficult for us to catch up," he said. "Once you get behind and off track, if you will, and you get 20 inches of snow, now probably approaching 30, it gets difficult."

Despite the mayor's explanations about snow removal, some residents were fuming.

"I can't get out," said Jerome Schmitt, who lives on Highland Park's Wellesley Road. "I'm really frustrated about this. I don't know why I'm living in the city and paying taxes."

He said that although the cobblestone approach to his cul-de-sac was salted, his road had not been touched.

"Some people dug out their section of the road. The rest of it is just wagon ruts."

"What was the reason why major streets were packed with ice and they didn't put any salt on them yesterday?" asked Howard Singer, a Squirrel Hill retiree.

Now those streets are getting a fresh coat, he said, and roads that had been cleared -- like Beechwood Boulevard, in front of his home -- are snow-covered again.

"It's a disaster," he said. "This is more like you'd expect from Donora and Monessen."

Many Beechview streets remained untouched by plows, according to Joseph Folino, a lifelong resident of the neighborhood who has been helping relatives dig out since the nightclub at which he works security has been closed all week.

"All of Beechview is a mess," he said, while taking a break from shoveling on Saranac Avenue. "Everything is just a nightmare up there.

"All of the side streets are awful," he said, and even significant roads like Shiras and Broadway seemed to have gotten one pass from a plow, or none, since the weekend.

He said there's mounting anger at Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. "The press conferences, he's been saying all the side streets have been touched. Well, in Beechview, none of them have been touched."

Mr. Ravenstahl said Monday that crews would try to treat all secondary streets before the snow started again, but confirmed Tuesday that some streets remained snowbound.

The mayor's office today said an all-hands-on-deck response to the one-two punch of snow storms continues.

According to the mayor's office, 130 pieces of snow removal equipment are working city streets. All 630 firefighters are working, and helping residents when not handling first responder calls. The Pennsylvania National Guard continues to assist in helping residents address non-emergency medical needs, and on Tuesday and today more than 165 residents got city-arranged rides to dialysis treatment or pharmacies.

City police officers are checking on residents who lack power. Senior center staffers are working with Allegheny County's Agency on Aging to get meals to elderly people.

Four residents stayed overnight at the South Side Market House. The city is working with the Red Cross to secure overnight housing for those who need it.

Council members were touring their districts or fielding calls.

"I'm still driving around in a plow," said Councilwoman Theresa Smith, of Westwood. "Some streets seem like they were treated very well. Others look like they need another scraping."

"Every neighborhood you go into, there are parts that didn't get [treated]" since the snow started on Friday, said Councilman Doug Shields, who was preparing to go out with his snow blower. Areas of Greenfield, around Kennebec Street, "were just disastrous, a fairly broad swath in that area." So were some Hazelwood streets, he said.

Roads on the North Side "are bad, like everywhere else," said Council President Darlene Harris. "They're doing the best they can do. On the way to work, I saw many trucks out there working."

Facebook pages calling for the return of tax dollars to city residents and the re-hiring of former Public Works Director Guy Costa have been created to reflect snow clearance complaints.

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