Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said today that the city is beginning to rework its snow clearance routes, using software and a new administration hire.

A day after a rapid morning snowfall slowed traffic and caused multiple accidents, he called uncleared roads "a pet peeve" of his, and pledged to improve the clearance system. The city has used software called RouteSmart to redraw its trash collection routes, and will now apply that to snow clearance, he said.

That will show the city "the most efficient way for a vehicle to travel," he said. "So in other words, if you leave the station with x amount of tons of rock salt, it will take you on a route where, by the time you come back to the station, you're out of rock salt and you reload and go out on another route.

"It's not always going to be perfect, because of our terrain, etcetera, just like everything else, but it gives us a blueprint to try to model our snow removal routes as best as we can."

The Department of Public Works recently hired Jeff Koch, a former city councilman defeated at the polls last year and a veteran of that department. Mr. Ravenstahl said Mr. Koch "will be responsible for street sweeping as well as snow-removal routes, determining whether or not changes need to be made and how we can more efficiently deliver street cleaning and snow removal in the city of Pittsburgh.

"You can never be good enough and you can never salt them quick enough, as far as I'm concerned."