Metro Council member suggests city’s snow plow route order is political

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Louisville Metro councilmember Anthony Piagentini tweeted about snow plow routes, suggesting the order in which they’re treated is based in politics.

The District 19 councilman shared a screenshot of the Metro snow map, showing the far east end highlighted in green, saying “east end districts which have some of the highest populations are getting plowed last. No coincidence that they are solid (Republican) areas in a (Democratic) city.”

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Dawn Urbina lives in Middletown, and told WAVE News she appreciates the work the snow plow drivers put in.

”I think they’re undervalued, and we’re quick to get impatient when things aren’t cleared right away,” Urbina said.

On Friday afternoon, plows still had roads to salt and clear in Middletown and surrounding areas. Despite the ice storm that rolled through, Urbina still made it to the grocery store.

”I wasn’t terribly concerned about the roads, I know how to drive in this weather mostly,” she said.

Louisville Metro Public Works updates the snow map as drivers make their way through the main roads, salting and then plowing.

According to Louisville Metro Public Works, the drivers will start salting and plowing main thoroughfares, then the arterial roads.

Piagentini responded to his original tweet saying in part, “There are roads in parks that were plowed before Shelbyville Road.”

He then suggested other places in Louisville had priority over a main road running through his district.

WAVE News checked out the Shelbyville Road area in District 19. The snow map showed 6 p.m. on Thursday the road had been salted, and by Friday morning around 11 a.m. it had been salted and plowed.

District 25 Councilmember Amy Holton Stewart said she fielded phone calls from concerned constituents who didn’t see the snow plows come through as the storm rolled through.

”There was such a narrow window of opportunity for public works to put the salt down,” Holton-Stewart said. “So, I think they did a really good job of watching the temperatures and looking at the radar.”

According to the snow map, Southside Drive, a main road in the 25th District, got salted Thursday around 4:45pm. It was salted again Friday morning at 3:00 a.m., and again, at 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon.

”I didn’t get anymore calls this morning,” Holton-Stewart said. “But, I have to tip my hats off to the public staying off the road, so the public workers could do their job.”

Stewart said if any roads are in need of treatment and attention, councilmembers have the direct access to express concern to Metro Public Works.

WAVE News reached out to the Mayor’s Office and Metro Public Works about the snow routes and how many trucks start and where. At the time of publishing, WAVE News has not yet received a response.

Councilmember Anthony Piagentini declined to do an interview.

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