ERIE, Pa. - The message from Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott on Wednesday was clear: residents need to get their cars off the streets so plow crews can get through, or risk getting towed.

The city is targeting eleven spots in all where cars are in the right-of-way and the plows can't get through, Sinnott announced alongside public works director David Mulvihill. The list below, provided by Mulvihill, are the locations where the vehicles are in the way:

  • W. 8th St. & Bayfront Pkwy.
  • 700 blk of E. 8th St.
  • 32nd St. & German St.
  • 230 E. 32nd St.
  • 817 W. 3rd St.
  • 814 W. 5th St.
  • W. 21st St. and Cranberry St.
  • W. 8th St. and Plum St.
  • E. 19th St. and Wallace (Buffalo Rd.)
  • E. 8th St. and East Ave.
  • 202 Hillcrest (vehicle on Albemarle is blocking the road)

Addresses listed as blocks or those that are not specific likely include vehicles at multiple locations on that street.

The city will not automatically tow these cars, Sinnott said. Instead, Erie Police will go through these neighborhoods warning residents over the loudspeaker to clear out their vehicles, or else those vehicles will be towed if necessary.

"Parking is an issue as well on some of the inner-city streets when they're parked on both sides," Sinnott said. "We're having trouble getting plow trucks down the streets, so we're asking people to get their cars out of the streets as best they can."

Crews have been focusing on those side streets over the last 24 hours, with the additional two feet of snow pummeling the city Tuesday. Most of the streets on the list are on side streets north of 12th St.

The city's streets crews will continue their round-the-clock efforts, their drivers working in 12-hour shifts until further notice, Mulvihill said. They're even taking a grader out to pave the growing number of potholes city-wide.

"We have a grader out there that's running all hours," said Mulvihill. "We're trying to smooth out some of that. PennDOT has also helped, they've come in and done some grading at the (West) 38th St. intersection, especially at Peach and Cherry."

The city has a "stockpile" of salt and fuel remaining from previously warmer winters, Mulvihill added.