In dealing with its first big test of the season, Pittsburgh is getting failing grades. Complaints of unplowed streets have been pouring in from every neighborhood. 

Council members fielding those complaints blame the state of the fleet, with plow trucks breaking down in record numbers at critical junctures.   

About half of the city's snow plows went down for maintenance during this weekend's snowstorm, and as a result, some streets will have to wait for the sun and warmer temperatures to get clear. 

Three days after the snow started falling, streets in Lincoln Place were still covered with a hard sheet of ice and snow. A skeletal fleet of plow trucks hobbled by age and disrepair couldn't get there before it all froze solid.  

"In the past, it's been pretty consistent. We would get it done within 24 hours of the snow, but this time, it's really bad," one resident said. 

The city went into the snowstorm Saturday with 77 plow trucks, with 61 on the frontlines and 16 in reserve. But quickly, 40 trucks, more than half, needed to be taken to the repair garage for maintenance. Seven never came out. While the city says the wet snow and frigid temperatures presented a stiff challenge, it concedes many of its trucks are not up to the fight. 

"The events are hard on them and they go down for a variety of different reasons," said Chris Hornstein, the director of Pittsburgh Public Works. 

Three days later, the city still doesn't have a sufficient number of working plows to clear all the streets. Today, Public Works District 3 reported having only six plows to cover all of Greenfield, Hazelwood, Squirrel Hill, Point Breeze and Oakland. And council offices have been inundated with complaints across the city of unplowed streets. 

"Something needed to be done about the fleet a year ago," said Pittsburgh council member Bob Charland. "Something needed to be done about the fleet five years ago. This hasn't changed that. The investment we've made in the fleet is just completely inadequate." 

Council is currently debating whether to raise taxes in order to increase spending on new vehicles from a proposed $10 million to $20 million or more. Council member Bobby Wilson would like to avoid a tax increase but believes the city should instead float a major bond issue to buy new vehicles. 

"I'm going to do everything I can to not raise taxes," Wilson said. 

But the failure of city fleet in this snow fight will put a new focus on the city's tax debate and whether this is a situation that can no longer be ignored. 

North Side residents pay contractor to plow their road 

On the North Side, residents say the problem isn't new. On University Avenue, neighbors say they foot the bill themselves, paying a private contractor just to clear the snow. 

KDKA-TV drove through the neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon and saw snow-covered streets, ruts and hills that are still difficult to navigate. 

"We actually pay a maintenance guy out of pocket to take care of University Avenue because it is a fairly steep hill. Even with my all-wheel drive, it would be pretty impossible to get up if he didn't treat it," said resident Jason Baptist. 

Baptist says streets around his complex are hardly ever touched within a day or two after a snowfall, and now almost four days later, they're still snow-covered. After getting no response from repeated calls to 311, Baptist says he called KDKA-TV for help. 

"I've called multiple times over the course of many years just trying to at least get someone to come up and throw some salt down or even something with a little bit of grit, and they can't even do that," Baptist. 

Baptist says his concern goes beyond convenience.

He worries about emergency access and with a school nearby, buses full of children are still being forced to travel these untreated roads.

"Clayton Academy is right there, so the school buses trying to get up Clayton from Perrysville, I couldn't imagine how impossible that is, especially being concerned for the safety of all those children." 

In the meantime, Baptist and his neighbors say they are hopeful the city's new administration will take a closer look at overall road maintenance across neighborhoods like theirs on the North Side.