Philadelphia Streets Department apologizes for oversalted roads following snowstorm

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Ever since this weekend, people in parts of West Philadelphia and Overbrook say while the snow’s long gone, a heck of a lot of salt has hung around.

“An abundance of salt, like a dust cloud,” Pia Hopkins said.

CBS News Philadelphia took a spin around the neighborhood where plainly, streets appeared to have been oversalted.

There were mounds of road salt along 72nd and 64th Streets. But most of it seemed to be along Lancaster Avenue — for blocks — stretching from Overbrook High School all the way west to City Avenue.

Passing cars and buses created a dust bowl from the pulverized powdery salt.

A grimy, gritty residue covered car surfaces. The car wash was busy.

On Wednesday morning, CBS Philadelphia emailed the Streets Department about it and provided them with details. About an hour later, the city dispatched crews to handle the matter.

Suddenly, street sweepers in tandem rolled up and down Lancaster Avenue. Workers opened the fire hydrants as the trucks went back and forth cleaning up all that salt.

A city spokesperson said this in a statement:

“The Streets Department apologizes for the salt residue left on the street from last week’s snow cleanup. We thank CBS3 for bringing this to our attention. We also thank our partners in the Sanitation Department for assisting with the quick cleanup of residual salt.”

While some salt remained, people said it was better than it was earlier in the day.