New Winter Snow Plowing Process

Residents in the Union Park neighborhood will enjoy better snow removal than we had last winter thanks to Des Moines Public Work’s new “Snow Priority Streets” program.

Sixteen neighborhoods, in all wards of the City of Des Moines, including Union Park, have agreed to participate in the program. Look for signs in these neighborhoods designating them as “Snow Priority Streets”.

The City of Des Moines has 225 centerline miles (709 lane miles) of “Snow Routes” which are major arterial streets and collectors roads that receive the highest priority for snow removal in order to move the majority of the city’s traffic. Under the program, Snow Routes will continue to receive the first priority for snow removal and treatment. But after that, neighborhoods that are designated as “Snow Priority Streets” will be next in line and we won’t have to wait until 4 inches of snow has fallen as in years past. Snow Priority Streets will get plowed after every snowfall of an inch or more which will result in a better job of snow removal to allow the sun and chemicals to do their job to make the streets safer to travel on.

The Public Works Department has been building up a fleet of “wing plows”, so called because of a large blade that extends from the side of the truck, which combined with an underbody plow, allows the snow plows to make only two passes down a street instead of four. Using this new equipment in residential areas will make snow removal more efficient by reducing plow time by 33 percent and save taxpayers money in overtime, better fuel economy and less wear and tear on equipment.

Last winter, the program was approved in the Waterbury area with great success. Meredith and Douglas Acres neighborhoods participated in the “Pilot Program” and the results were “excellent”. Because of the success in theses three neighborhoods the program was opened up to all neighborhoods in the city.

Because the wing plows are so big, they cannot be efficiently used on residential street where vehicles are parked. The key to making this work is to enforce a parking ban on residential streets during snow events so they can clear roadways from curb to curb and minimize snow build-up on the street surface and the resulting icing conditions. That means that when snow removal operations are in progress, residents must move their cars off the streets to allow for snow removal.

Residents will be given notice to move parked vehicles prior to ticketing, through the local media (TV, radio, Des Moines Register website), the City of Des Moines website, or by e-mail notification to subscribers. Use this web form to subscribe to plowing alerts and other city news. The parking ban is enforced by the Des Moines Police Department by issuing a $35 ticket for each violation. Once the plow has passed the cars can go back on the streets.

Until 2010 Des Moines was the only city in the Metro Area that did not have parking restrictions in residential areas during snow removal operations, other than designated Snow Routes.