Committee orders review of snow response after historic storm; council presses for tech, staffing and communications fixes

The Climate, Environment and Infrastructure Committee voted to send a report to the city manager to evaluate Cincinnati’s snow removal plans after a record-setting multi-day winter storm that left some neighborhoods unplowed for days.

The committee’s action followed a presentation from the Department of Public Services (DPS) and the Office of Performance, Data and Analytics (OPDA) that described operational challenges during the event, including continuous snowfall, low temperatures that reduced salt effectiveness, vehicle wear from multi-day operations and limitations in the public snow-plow tracker and 311/service-request workflows.

DPS officials told the committee the city’s traffic and road operations division is responsible for coordinating winter safety across roughly 3,100 lane miles. Jared Bowden, traffic and road operations superintendent, and Jerry Bolden, DPS representative, described the department’s preseason preparations — route books, materials, vehicle maintenance and a…