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Bieter says it's a failed system when the city is not in charge of its roads

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter says it's a failed system when the city is not in charge of the roads. 

Over the past several weeks residents in the Treasure Valley have dubbed this winter "snowmageddon," with recent storms bringing record snowfall.

A big concern in Boise is neighborhood streets not being plowed. It's been an ongoing issue.

“We are proud of the work we have done, in the amount of time we have done it, in an unprecedented storm, the likes of which we haven’t seen since 1940,” said Ada County Highway District spokesperson Nicole DuBois.

Some residents feel the opposite and are frustrated that roads, especially residential, have sat uncleared, leaving people trapped in their homes.

In response, ACHD says they have been spread thin and are responsible for maintaining roads in six different cities.

Last Friday, the Idaho Transportation Department offered to share some of the workload with ACHD in residential areas, but because of a lengthy approval process, plowed other major roadways -- Chinden, Broadway and Glenwood, instead -- so ACHD could focus on neighborhood streets.

“Right now I think we are 99 percent clear and were really close to that number in culdesacs, 85 to 90 percent,” said DuBois.

But still, residents are unhappy with how long plowing has took, and is still taking.

Boise Mayor Dave Bieter says it is a failed system.

“I had around 500 people call my office because they really think that were in charge of the roads," said Bieter. "If this were our performance, I would expect to be terminated out of office because that is what happens to mayors.”

The mayor says ever since he has been in office he has been vocal about the city gaining control over Boise roads because the way it is now, he says there is no accountability and it isn’t working.

“We do believe fundamentally it is never going to work, it is a system that is doomed to fail, it is not set up to be responsive and transparent and to perform in these ways.”

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