Editorial: No snow plan in the city - 19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|News, Weather, Sports

Editorial: No snow plan in the city

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(WOIO) - If there is any city in the northeast that ought to know how to handle a snowstorm…its Cleveland. But it sure didn't look that way last week when an unusual band of lake-effect parked itself directly over the city and ignited chaos on the streets below. 

It took many commuters an hour or more just to go a few blocks for most, it was nothing short of a nightmare. 

The snow started falling heavily around noon yet there were no snowplows in evidence until hours later. But the real problem was gridlock on the downtown streets. Businesses let employees out early and the traffic quickly filled the intersections, blocking the so-called box, and no one went anywhere. 

In addition to dispatching those snow trucks earlier, city officials should be ready with a plan to station officers at key intersections to keep the traffic moving. And furthermore shouldn't a modern city in a snowbelt area have some kind of evacuation plan that staggers the departure times for people leaving the city? The whole mess, unfortunately, just adds to Cleveland's reputation as a city that doesn't work.  

Write and let me know what you think. I'm Bill Applegate.

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