Denver unleashed both its large and residential plows to clear streets of snow Wednesday, but residents who aren’t seeing desired results are still frustrated with the increased efforts.

The city used its heavy-duty plows to clear the main streets and residential plows — four wheel drive trucks with attached plows — to clear side streets Wednesday. The city will continue plowing “round the clock” into Thursday.

The smaller plows were not deployed for the last two snowstorms, leaving side streets packed with ice and hard snow because of lingering cold temperatures.

Snowplow drivers, for both the big and residential plows, are working 12-hours shifts, with a new shift starting at 3 p.m. Wednesday and another starting at 3 a.m. Thursday, according to a news release.

The plows will continue to pass down street centers on each side of the streets to shave off the top few inches of snow in an attempt to keep deep ruts from forming.

“Future storm deployment decisions will be made in the morning and communicated,” according to the release.

The city did not say how many total plows were sent out, but at 4:30 p.m., the city’s plow tracker showed 31 active big plows and 16 active residential plows.

The plow tracker shows the location of snowplows that have moved within the last 15 minutes, according to the tracking site. Drivers getting fuel, loading up on de-icing material or getting maintenance checks are not shown.

The city also reminded residents that property owners are required to clear snow and ice from their sidewalks, including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramps. When snow stops falling, businesses are required to clear their sidewalks immediately, according to the release. Residents are required to clear their sidewalks by the next day.

Despite the city’s efforts, residents expressed disappointment in the snow removal process.

Denver resident Michael French, who has lived in various parts of the metro area since 2012, said he has yet to see a residential plow in any of his neighborhoods since moving to Denver.

“All the major roads I’ve driven after a snowstorm are plowed pretty well,” French said. “It’s all the side streets where you have to have a four-wheel-drive vehicle to get out of your neighborhood to the main road.”

When he went outside to shovel midday Wednesday, there was about a foot of snow on the street outside his house, he said. He still hadn’t seen a plow on his residential street by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, he said.

French’s house is located next to a bus route and he sees school buses on his street every day. He expressed concern about the safety of people and students on those buses and the ability of emergency vehicles to reach residences in the area.

“The city seems to operate under the assumption that the sun will melt everything in 48 hours,” French said.

The snow from the late December storm just finished melting off of their street about two days ago, he said. French hopes the city dedicates more resources to plow the roads and do it more quickly.

French is one of many frustrated residents in the area, including politicians and media professionals. The 9News show Next with Kyle Clark tweeted a picture — from the early 1900s — of a horse buggy picking up snow with this caption: “Picture proof that Denver has, at least once, done snow removal.”

One mayor candidate called for a “ground-up overhaul of the system—and it needs to include plowing the damn roads.”

The city typically does not deploy its plows to side streets, focusing instead on major thoroughfares. This often leaves side streets with sheets or clusters of ice that often turn slippery and dangerous. In fact, a lot of ice on side streets still remain from the last snowstorm.

The history of Denver’s snow removal plan is long and complicated, with its current plan coming from policy choices that tried to balance the need for cleaning the air of pollutants and keeping roads clear.

However, some argue that it may be time to reassess the standing procedure.

“I think it’s important to acknowledge that climate change may be playing a role here and we may be having different weather patterns,” longtime transportation planner Jim Charlier said. “Perhaps we need to reassess our snow management practices based on that.”

Kuhn said the city evaluates its snow removal procedure every snow season and is assessing after the unusually wet, heavy and spring-like December storm that left roads messy.

“Was this a one-time thing? Or a new trend amid global warming? These are things we’ll look at,” DOTI spokesperson Nancy Kuhn said. “(We’ll look at) any new trends over the course of several seasons and see if we need to adjust.”

Denver unleashed both its large and residential plows to clear streets of snow Wednesday, but residents who aren’t seeing desired results are still frustrated with the increased efforts.

The city used its heavy-duty plows to clear the main streets and residential plows — four wheel drive trucks with attached plows — to clear side streets Wednesday. The city will continue plowing “round the clock” into Thursday.

The smaller plows were not deployed for the last two snowstorms, leaving side streets packed with ice and hard snow because of lingering cold temperatures.

‘Plow the damn roads’: Frustrations boil over as Denver promises to plow side streets with snowstorm coming

Snowplow drivers, for both the big and residential plows, are working 12-hours shifts, with a new shift starting at 3 p.m. Wednesday and another starting at 3 a.m. Thursday, according to a news release.

The plows will continue to pass down street centers on each side of the streets to shave off the top few inches of snow in an attempt to keep deep ruts from forming.

“Future storm deployment decisions will be made in the morning and communicated,” according to the release.

The city did not say how many total plows were sent out, but at 4:30 p.m., the city’s plow tracker showed 31 active big plows and 16 active residential plows.

The plow tracker shows the location of snowplows that have moved within the last 15 minutes, according to the tracking site. Drivers getting fuel, loading up on de-icing material or getting maintenance checks are not shown.

The city also reminded residents that property owners are required to clear snow and ice from their sidewalks, including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramps. When snow stops falling, businesses are required to clear their sidewalks immediately, according to the release. Residents are required to clear their sidewalks by the next day.

Despite the city’s efforts, residents expressed disappointment in the snow removal process.

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Denver resident Michael French, who has lived in various parts of the metro area since 2012, said he has yet to see a residential plow in any of his neighborhoods since moving to Denver.

“All the major roads I’ve driven after a snowstorm are plowed pretty well,” French said. “It’s all the side streets where you have to have a four-wheel-drive vehicle to get out of your neighborhood to the main road.”

When he went outside to shovel midday Wednesday, there was about a foot of snow on the street outside his house, he said. He still hadn’t seen a plow on his residential street by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, he said.

French’s house is located next to a bus route and he sees school buses on his street every day. He expressed concern about the safety of people and students on those buses and the ability of emergency vehicles to reach residences in the area.

“The city seems to operate under the assumption that the sun will melt everything in 48 hours,” French said.

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The snow from the late December storm just finished melting off of their street about two days ago, he said. French hopes the city dedicates more resources to plow the roads and do it more quickly.

French is one of many frustrated residents in the area, including politicians and media professionals. The 9News show Next with Kyle Clark tweeted a picture — from the early 1900s — of a horse buggy picking up snow with this caption: “Picture proof that Denver has, at least once, done snow removal.”

One mayor candidate called for a “ground-up overhaul of the system—and it needs to include plowing the damn roads.”

The city typically does not deploy its plows to side streets, focusing instead on major thoroughfares. This often leaves side streets with sheets or clusters of ice that often turn slippery and dangerous. In fact, a lot of ice on side streets still remain from the last snowstorm.

The history of Denver’s snow removal plan is long and complicated, with its current plan coming from policy choices that tried to balance the need for cleaning the air of pollutants and keeping roads clear.

However, some argue that it may be time to reassess the standing procedure.

“I think it’s important to acknowledge that climate change may be playing a role here and we may be having different weather patterns,” longtime transportation planner Jim Charlier said. “Perhaps we need to reassess our snow management practices based on that.”

Kuhn said the city evaluates its snow removal procedure every snow season and is assessing after the unusually wet, heavy and spring-like December storm that left roads messy.

“Was this a one-time thing? Or a new trend amid global warming? These are things we’ll look at,” DOTI spokesperson Nancy Kuhn said. “(We’ll look at) any new trends over the course of several seasons and see if we need to adjust.”