INDIANAPOLIS — Nearly a week after a historic snowstorm blanketed Indianapolis, some residential streets remain unplowed, leaving drivers stranded and residents frustrated with the city's snow removal efforts.
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Angie Hodson found herself stuck on a residential street in Indianapolis after making the drive from Whitestown on clear highways. The contrast between main roads and neighborhood streets highlighted ongoing challenges with the city's snow removal operations.
"The streets are so bad, I'm stuck, so I have to plow out," Hodson said.
Hodson expressed frustration with what she sees as neglect of residential areas where people need to navigate daily life.
"They're not paying attention to the side roads, where people are walking their dogs and trying to get out and go to work," Hodson said.
The complaints come as the Indianapolis Department of Public Works rolls out its new snow removal policy, designed to clarify when neighborhood streets get cleared. Under the policy, residential areas receive different treatment than main thoroughfares due to lower traffic volumes.
"Residential areas see much less traffic. They see traffic at lower speeds when contractors are deployed for those priority 3 streets. The standard is to do one pass down the middle in order to make it passable through this," said Kyle Bloyd, chief communications officer for Indy DPW.
Despite the new guidelines, some roads are still getting missed or not cleared to department standards. Bloyd acknowledged issues with streets near 21st and Talbot, where crews had to return for additional work.
"This was one where it was kind of hard to tell. It was still struggling to be, you know, probably as passable as we would have liked. We called it back in. We got this one taken care of. This is in much better condition than it was yesterday," Bloyd said.
The city typically calls in contractors when snow measures four inches or more.
"There's sometimes where it's like, you drive around, it's like you can see that, you know, maybe three streets have been missed. Sometimes you'll go out and say, oh no, this one court in this one neighborhood got missed," Bloyd said.
For more information on how to fill out a complaint, click here.
Adam Schumes is the In Your Community reporter for East Side Indy. He joined WRTV in December of 2021. Adam has a passion for telling stories and giving people a voice they might not have had before. Share your story ideas and important issues with Adam by emailing him at adam.schumes@wrtv.com.
