SCRANTON -- Snow-clogged streets halted business in downtown Scranton for a second day, so the city has plans to shut down those streets and haul the snow away overnight.
Starting at 10 p.m. Wednesday, crews will start hauling away huge snow banks in the downtown area that are making it hard for Scranton's main business district to be open for business.
Mathew Donahue lives a few floors above Spruce Street in Scranton. He looked out in the morning and couldn't see his car.
"I looked out the window and saw I had a lot of work to do, so me and Danny the dog came out and started shoveling."
Mathew and Danny the dog readied for a few hours' work removing his car from the piled up snow. They weren't alone.
"You can't see my roommate's car, they're in there good. They have a lot of work to do too."
Business owners in the downtown were back to work, too, but many of them not open. Abe's Deli was one of the only unlocked doors.
"Yesterday we basically opened up strictly just to clean the front of the store. I mean, the snow would have been way too high to clear it all in one day," said Renato Luongo.
For the businesses that are open, there aren't any spaces for customers to come and park, so the city has a plan to remove all of this snow from the downtown.
"I just ask that the people be patient. I understand that it's a difficult situation and maybe our patience is wearing a little thin, but believe me, we're out there doing the best that we can. Like I said, we're bringing 20 triaxles in tonight and 10 front-end loaders. It's a massive storm, the biggest in our history," said Mayor Bill Courtright, (D) Scranton.
So, it will take some time and money. The mayor expects the downtown snow removal and extra plows to help in the neighborhoods will cost the city at least $300,000.
"There will be parking now tomorrow. Today, it's hard to park, people could double park on the street but it's dangerous. The city's doing a great job. As long as they clean this up, they'll be back to normal in a few days," said Luongo.
There is a parking ban in effect in downtown Scranton for snow removal from 10 p.m. Wednesday through 8 a.m. Thursday. The specific streets covered by this ban are all streets between Lackawanna Avenue and Mulberry Streets and all streets between Mifflin Avenue and Jefferson Avenue.