MILWAUKEE — Neighbors in Milwaukee's Cooper Park neighborhood, near 85th Street and Chambers Street, are frustrated by "inadequate" snow removal services.
On Friday, two days after the most recent snowfall, snowplows continued to clean up the mess left behind by Wednesday's storm.
"It feels like we're kind of like the last to be plowed," said Melody McCabe, who has lived in the area for roughly two years.
She is a busy mom and business owner and said the main streets are in great shape after the snowfall, but the side streets remain a mess.
Storm Team 4 meteorologists forecast 2-4 inches of snow accumulating on Friday and an additional 3-5 inches on Saturday.
"It still looks pretty treacherous in the neighborhood and people say, 'How are your neighborhoods? Can we get through?' Yeah, you can, but just be really careful," said McCabe.
Several other neighbors, both on-camera and off-camera, told Lighthouse Reporter Ryan Jenkins about their concerns over a lack of timely snow removal.
"It's hard to kind of get through and, you know, just go from point A to point B, and I wish they would do a little bit of a better job," said Justin Thompson, who also lives near 85th and Chambers.
Watch: Milwaukee's Cooper Park neighbors frustrated by 'inadequate' snow removal
City Hall has been hearing these complaints for several years now. Earlier this week, a group of Milwaukee's Common Council members met to consider refunding property owners the service fee they pay if their snow and ice removal is inadequate.
In an email Friday, Alderman Lamont Westmoreland told Jenkins there "has been a dramatic decrease in complaints after the latest snowfall. I thank the Department of Public Works (DPW) and am confident this trend will continue with this next round of snow."
That update comes after Westmoreland, who represents residents in Milwaukee's 5th Aldermanic District, wrote a letter on Christmas Eve in 2024 expressing his concern. He said complaints were piling up and that the problems had persisted during snowstorms over the course of several years.
TMJ4 News did see one DPW snowplow in the area Friday helping to clean side streets. Neighbors said they hope to see more of the fleet in the days ahead.
"It's a little rough; they could obviously do a better job," said Thompson.
"You know the snow is coming. You can salt early," said McCabe. "I'd be willing to pay for extra salt just to be able to know we're safe on the streets."
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
