St. Louis criticized for neglecting side streets in winter storm

ST. LOUIS - More than a week after the big winter storm hit, the city of St. Louis is coming under fire for not treating side streets plowing areas where people’s homes are.

There are residents who still can't get out because the streets are so icy.

Historically, the City of St. Louis doesn’t treat its streets during harsh winter conditions, causing icy roads and slick walkways for people.

Ally Power tenderly walked on an ice-covered street in South St. Louis and safely made it to the passenger side of her friend’s vehicle. She was not quite as fortunate yesterday.

“I walked to my car yesterday morning to go to work and I fell three times. Thankfully, I caught my balance and I’m ok,” she said.

“I’m getting calls from a lot of senior citizens and disabled folks who are unable to get out of their homes, a week after the snow events have taken place. That’s unacceptable,” Alderman Tom Oldenburg (Ward 2) said.

“We’ve got to get help to our side streets, some of our most vulnerable residents. The side streets are literally sheets of ice, as temperatures drop and raise and drop again, [we get] dangerous and hazardous conditions. There ought to be a plan,” Tom said.

The City of St. Louis’s Director of the Department of Streets, Betherny Williams, expresses that there is a plan in place to combat the issue of negligence.

Today, city trucks started spreading ice-melting salt on side streets. as long as the trucks could safely navigate between vehicles typically parked on both sides of the streets, to hopefully help break up the ice.

The move was part of the plan to reverse the city’s policy of typically leaving side streets untouched.

Williams alerted the Board of Aldermen to coming changes in a January 13, 2025, letter.

During this past storm, we operated 50+ trucks with 53 employees working in 12-hour shifts. As of today, staff are continuing to work regular shifts to treat pavement and plow where they can. Ongoing efforts are meant to ensure that primary and secondary routes are cleared and treated. Resources are being directed to address neighborhood streets. We started with neighborhood streets on Sunday, Jan. 4.

It was brought to my attention that there is concern with the conditions around schools within our city limits. I requested a map to verify that all charter, independent, parochial, and public schools, along with Senior Service Centers, are all on snow routes, which have all been treated. GIS provided by the planning division shows that all of these schools are on snow routes. I am now in communication with representatives from schools through the Mayor’s Office staff to identify emergency situations to handle on a case-by-case basis.

I encourage you and your constituents to utilize the Citizen’s Service Bureau to request streets that need to be salted in the city. We are actively monitoring the weather forecast and are aware of the potential for ice formation in the coming days. Additional salting and treatment efforts are planned to mitigate these hazards.

This winter storm has allowed us to expand snow removal operations beyond the traditional routes. This includes evaluating additional resources, such as equipment and personnel from other departments, such as the Department of Parks, Recreation & Forestry, to expedite clearing efforts.

Discussions are underway to reassess our response strategy to ensure neighborhood streets are addressed sooner in extreme weather events like this. I have been working with local contractors to explore the financial and operational obligations of obtaining a contractor to plow residential streets, but financial obligations and liability have all posed challenges to moving forward with a contract.

We have purchased additional fleet vehicles outfitted to plow some of our residential streets. Due to supply chain delays, we have not received the additional fleet, and this will be put in service for next winter. We are currently looking at expanding the snow call pay incentive and working with other departments that have small fleet vehicles. Once this work is completed, you will be briefed on the changes to the snowplow policy, and I will be requesting your help with ordinance enforcement and resident education on expectations of vehicle and business owners.

Mayor Jones, Kent Flake, and I have worked to continuously provide updates on the condition of our streets. I have made myself available and tried my best to reply to all your requests to facilitate your constituents' needs. If you hear concerns about specific areas, I ask that you or your legislative aids report them through CSB to help us deploy crews to those emergency areas. Betherny Williams, director - The City of St. Louis’s Director of the Department of Streets

Aldermen were looking into requiring residents to move their cars to accommodate plowing during snow events just as they do for monthly street cleaning,” Oldenburg said.

That goes along with the kind of changes Williams hints at in her letter.

“Until we have laws set in place, we know procedures, we have the fleet, we have people, then we’re able to roll something out of this magnitude because this will be changing,” Willaims said. “This will be something we have never seen before.”