Harsh weather conditions of significant snow combined with freezing rain, a lack of adequate salt supply and a shortage of available workers has left residents up and down the Pioneer Valley in slippery situations.

Though many of the main roads in the area have been cleared since the weekend’s storm — which brought heavy snowfall layered with ice caused by freezing rain and chilling winds — residents living on secondary and side streets say that their streets remain coated with ice two days after the storm’s end, making navigating them difficult.

“I’m pretty able-bodied, but I’m thinking about all the people who may fall,” said Sasha Goss, who lives on Arlington Street in Northampton, across from Smith College. “My mom is elderly and has to walk the dog. I tried walking the dog yesterday and I could barely get down the street.”

Jason Fregeau, who lives on Hinckley Street in Florence, said he and his family took a drive out of the city on Sunday morning, when the streets were mostly covered in slush. When they returned later that day, the roads was still covered in slush, which then froze overnight.

“The city missed an opportunity to take care of this before it froze,” Fregeau said. “What are we doing to address this? These sort of daily tasks are important to people.”

In a statement, Northampton Department of Public Works Director Donna LaScaleia called the weekend weather as an “ice storm in the middle of a snow storm,” comparing the dense freezing that occurred to gravel packing on a dirt road.

“Long duration mixed precipitation weather events are our new normal, and in the face of an ice and snow storm like this one, our priority has been and continues to be ensuring the ability for emergency vehicles to pass safely throughout the city,” LaScaleia said in the statement. “In the meantime, I encourage residents to drive slowly and carefully until temperatures moderate and we get some meaningful melting.”

It’s not just Northampton that’s facing these issues. In Amherst, Public Works Director Guilford Mooring said many side roads remained to be cleared of ice, and that they would not likely be cleared until the end of the week, assuming another potential storm doesn’t strike before that.

“We’ve had storms like this before, but not in a while,” Mooring said. “People aren’t really used to it.”

Mooring said it’s been difficult to find enough workers to help clear the roads, with public works departments struggling with staffing efforts. “We’ve had open vacancies since COVID,” Mooring said. “People don’t seem interested in these kinds of jobs.”

Another challenge, Mooring said, was a limited supply of salt for clearing the ice. Vendors have had lower than usual reserves due to several winter storms that have struck the southern United States this year, causing demand to increase.

“It’s not flowing like it used to,” Mooring said. “Everyone’s been asking for salt.”

The salt shortage badly affected the nearby city of Chicopee, whose Mayor John Vieau said in a release put out Monday that the city did not receive a scheduled shipment of road salt, forcing it to send trucks to Albany, New York to obtain salt. The city finally received a shipment of salt on Tuesday, according to Michael Pise, Vieau’s chief of staff.

The city of Easthampton also responded to concerns regarding icy conditions, acknowledging the salt shortages on its Facebook page and urging patience as the city’s DPW labors to treat the roads. The icy conditions led to the closure of Mount Tom’s Mountain Road during the storm, though the road reopened on Monday.

“We understand it’s frustrating when side streets don’t get the attention you’d expect, and we’re not minimizing anyone’s experience,” the city posted. “We’re simply working hard to clear roads in a way that ensures everyone’s safety.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.