CLEVELAND — When a winter storm hits Cleveland, there's a new tool now available to help residents explore where plows are actively working and how close crews are to reaching their neighborhood.
The snow plow tracker was part of the city's updated snow removal plan that was revealed by Mayor Justin Bibb on Thursday afternoon. It comes after the city was criticized for its response to the winter storm that hit on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
"I believe it’s a good step in the right direction to give our residents transparent access to know when the snow plow is coming to their neighborhood," Mayor Bibb said.
So how does it work and how can you use it? Explore our guide below...
HOW TO ACCESS THE PLOW TRACKER
The tracker is currently pinned at the top of Cleveland's main site, but you can find a direct link to the plow tracker map by CLICKING HERE.
HOW IT WORKS
When a truck has its plow down, the GPS system begins tracking where the vehicle has traveled. Truck movements are updated every two minutes with their locations represented by black dots on the map.
Green lines on the map indicate which streets have already been plowed, which is updated every 60 minutes.
The map will only be activated during wintry weather.
HOW TO USE IT
The plow tracker is an interactive map that allows users to zoom into a specific area or type in their address to check nearby plowing progress.
UPDATES ARE EXPECTED
Mayor Bibb emphasizes that this plow tracker is currently a pilot program in "phase one."
“We want to make sure we have upgrades and update it over time based on feedback from residents in the community," Mayor Bibb explained. "We’re looking at best practices from across the country to inform our view on this, but we wanted to make sure we got going quickly to respond to the needs of our residents.”
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