When the last storm dumped snow on Detroit’s streets last winter, the city was not within months of bankruptcy.

Now operating under a state mandate to drastically reduce services, the city of Detroit will have a weaker-than-usual workforce to plow 684 miles of major roads. That means even more streets won’t get plowed, while others will be neglected for more than a week – unless the snow melts first.

Today is significant because it will reveal the impact of cuts to the Department of Public Works, which handles the city’s snow-clogged roads.

Among the most impacted will be students and workers who rely on buses. Food distributors’ trucks also may have trouble reaching corner grocery stores, where most Detroiters buy their food.

“I worry every time it snows I’m not going to make it to work,” Ruth Chambers, a waitress on Gratiot, said outside her east-side home. “And you stand out here (bus stop) shivering, waiting and waiting. God have mercy.”

But downtown and Midtown? Those roads are plowed.

During the winter, we will be monitoring Detroit’s roads in the aftermath of snowstorms to assess the impact on a city with abysmal services despite the highest tax rates in the state. We’ll also examine where the city neglects and why.

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