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Pittsburgh City Council

Nearly $60,000 would buy a dozen trailers for snow and lawn crews.

Written by Amy Whipple

A new Department of Public Works (DPW) purchase could help cut back the city’s overgrowth problem.

Council agreed to move forward with the Department of Public Works’s (DPW) request to purchase a dozen new landscaping trailers.

Acting fleet manager Branwyn Turnage said during the Sept. 2 committee meeting that the nearly $60,000 purchase — allocated from the DPW trust fund — would benefit both the parks and streets departments. She said 12 is the minimum necessary to allow DPW to efficiently transport snow removal and lawncare equipment as well as address 311 calls.

There are currently two trailers for these purposes.

Council Member Bob Charland of the South Side said not having enough trailers has contributed to “the filthy condition that my district is in right now.” He said, “It looks like a jungle there this year, and a large part of that is the trailer issue and borrowing trailers from Environmental Services and elsewhere.”

Additionally, the DPW division that covers the South Hills neighborhoods has been working out of the Strip District for nine years while waiting for a new building in Knoxville. “We’re also adding like an hour of time into every little job to move a lawnmower in or throw it in the back of a pickup truck,” Charland said. 

The building is currently slated to open later this fall.

Connections to this story

Governments:
Pittsburgh City Council
Public meetings:
City Council · September 1, 2026
Sources:
Resolution 2026-0804 — amending Resolution 37, 126 and 399, which authorized an amendment to the cooperation agreement or agreements with the…

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