Niles Public Works Director Joseph Ray said Thursday that street department crews are working hard to clear snow from city streets after the most recent snowfall event.

In the downtown area, snow has been plowed to the middle of the street where Ray said it should be removed within 48 hours, weather depending.

Ray said crews would likely start removing snow around 2 a.m. Friday.

“It’s a lot easier to haul at night without traffic,” he said.

The city has about 10 snowplows and two front-end loaders it uses for snow removal. A large snow blower is attached to the front of a front-end loader. The blower then blows snow into the bed of a truck, which hauls the snow to an area designated for snow collection located behind the former public safety building near Riverfront Park.

Ray reminds residents not to blow or plow snow into the city streets.

“Sometimes people with snow plows will plow across the street. That can really cause us some issues when that snow gets packed hard against the curb,” he said. “When our trucks come through and hit that snow it can actually spin our trucks around. It’s happened, unfortunately.”

Ray also asked people to park vehicles off the street whenever possible.

“It allows our crews to do a better job clearing snow from the street,” he said. “We understand some people don’t have another option, but if they do have another option and can utilize it that’s a big help.”

Ray said snowfall this year is a little above average, adding that it seems like we are getting more snow because we’ve had mild snowfall the past two years.

“We are using more salt than we have the past couple years, but if you go back historically, 5 to 6 years back, it is about average,” he said.