Philly continues snow cleanup with goal of clearing every street

The snow emergency is officially over in Philadelphia, but clearing the streets of snow will take a while.

Philadelphia Streets Commissioner Dave Perri said that while most city streets are passable, plenty of work remains for about a third of the city’s thoroughfares.

“Remember, our service standards for our residential streets is to make them passable,” Perri said Friday. “In many cases, especially on our east west streets that remain in the shade it’s impossible to take them down to blacktop.”

With the ever-changing temperatures, Perri urged drivers to be cautious over the next several days.

“The travel lanes on our primary streets are generally down to blacktop with some slush, so be aware of black ice, which is likely to occur when temperatures fall below freezing,” he said. “Hardpack is a combination of snow, sleet and freezing rain … when it falls on colder city streets, it turns into an icing condition.”

Motorists can now park on snow emergency routes without fear being ticketed and towed.