Shopping Center Snow Removal Services

1. What happens when it starts to snow?

Omaha NE subscribes to an advanced weather forecasting service. Depending upon the timing and nature of the pending storm, crews are brought in and put on stand-by. Once the storm starts, salt trucks are sent out on designated salt routes to apply salt as necessary.

2. Why do I never see a salt truck when it snows?

It all depends upon where you live. The City’s main salt routes are maintained by 21 vehicles covering 1,067 lane kilometers or road at a cost of approximately $12,000/hour. Depending upon the time of day, traffic volumes and snowfall amounts, the average routes can take between 3 and 6 hours to complete one pass. The trucks will continue back over these routes until the storm has stopped and these streets are clear of snow and ice.

3. How do you decide what street on these main salt routes?

The main salt routes comprise of the E.C. Row Expressway, arterial roads and collector roads, as defined by traffic volumes, fire/hospital emergency routes and Transit Windsor bus routes.

4. Why don’t we plow and salt all the streets in the City, specifically secondary and residential streets?

Secondary and residential streets are not plowed and salted unless the City has received a snowfall in excess of 10 centimeters (4 inches). The cost to plow and salt all residential streets is in excess of $300,000 per event. A balanced level of service according to the roadway classification and traffic volumes reduces both equipment costs and salt usage. This balanced level of service has long proven to be the most efficient with respect to maximizing the available tax dollars and minimizing environmental damage.

5. Why do you not use sand for winter control?

Salt is a very effective de-icing agent and is effective to temperatures as low as -12oC (10oF). Sand has no de-icing properties. It is mainly used where winter temperatures are continually below -12oC (10oF). Sand is an abrasive substance and is used to increase traction for vehicles. However, cleanup of sand from roadways and sewers throughout the municipality proves cost prohibitive.

6. Why does the plow not remove all of the snow from my road?

The plows are designed to ride on guides (shoes) that raise the blade approximately 13 millimeters (0.5 inches) from the surface of the roadway. This is done to prevent damage to both the vehicle and infrastructure from raised manholes, catch basins or water valves. Once the street has been plowed and salted, the interaction of the salt and vehicular traffic is required to melt the remaining snow cover. Streets with low traffic volumes will therefore remain snow covered longer.

7. Why do the plows always push snow into my driveway?

For a resident this can be quite annoying, but unfortunately it cannot be helped. The snow must be removed from the travelled portion of the road. When the City receives a heavy snowfall, if possible, do not shovel your driveway until after the plow has gone by. If you must shovel do not throw the snow out onto the roadway as you may create a hazard for another vehicle, and if an accident were to occur you might be held liable.

8. Why don’t you clean my driveway?

The City does not clean driveways for two reasons:

There are approximately 70,000 driveways in the City. The cost to clean all the driveways would be over $300,000 per snow event.

The liability to the City for damage to the driveway approaches is cost prohibitive.

9. I only have on-street parking. Why do you always plow snow against my car?

The City must remove the snow from the travelled portion of the road. On a two-way street where there is only parking on one side, the plow operator cannot push the snow away from the parked car into oncoming traffic, as it would create a hazard and liability. Snow is always pushed away from oncoming traffic. When heavy snowfalls are predicted, residents are asked where possible not to park on the roads. This is done to reduce the chance of plowing in parked vehicles, eliminating the chance of damaging vehicles and allowing for a more efficient plowing operation. The City realizes that not all residents have driveways and all attempts are made by the City to clean the off-street parking lots for those residents.