DETROIT (WXYZ) — The city of Detroit Department of Public Works announced Monday several plowing contractors will be clearing residential streets beginning 7 a.m. Tuesday.
The side-street plowing is necessary so residents are able to get out of their neighborhoods and on to major roads. Also, under new guidelines that were announced in 2018, contractors are required to make two passes to clear 16 feet within 24 hours along the city's 1884 miles of residential streets, a press release states.
“As the City continues to improve financially, we are given the opportunity to provide a higher level of service to our neighborhoods,” said DPW Director Ron Brundidge. “A 10-foot path down each street was acceptable when the policy was implemented almost 20 years ago, but now we are able to do more, so we will.”
With the new guidelines comes a higher cost to cover plowing in the city, a release states. It's now about 20% more expensive than previous years, with a total cost of $534,000.
Here is the lineup of contractors and the Council District for which they will be responsible:
District One: Brilar Landscaping
District Two: Jordan Landscaping
District Three: Payne Landscaping
District Four: Payne Landscaping
District Five: Fontenot
District Six: Pavex
District Seven: Jordan Landscaping
The city adds that plowing is more effective when vehicles are removed from city streets. However, unlike other metro Detroit cities that have declared snow emergencies, vehicles in Detroit will not be towed.
“We know that parking on residential streets can be difficult after significant snow falls,” Brundidge said. “We don’t plan to tow vehicles, especially since on-street parking is the only option in some areas, so we are asking for resident’s cooperation. Once we activate the contractors, we are asking that residents find a way to park their car off the street if at all possible.”
Roads that are snow emergency routes will have signs posted up to 48 hours prior to plowing.
For additional information on snow plowing in the city of Detroit, click here.
There is a new policy for snow removal on Detroit bike lanes. According to a release, the city has purchased skid-steers and the new policy is in effect within the city's 50 miles of protected bike lanes.
“Bike lanes have become an increasingly popular form of mobility throughout the year for a lot of people,” Brundidge said. “Since this will be our first time clearing snow from protected bike lanes on a large scale, we look forward to receiving feedback from the public to help us improve our process as we go along.”
Here are the guidelines:
- If there is three inches of snow or less, bike lanes will be salted as part of major street salting operations.
- If there is between three and six inches of snow, Bike lanes will be plowed and salted as needed; snow from bike lanes will either be pushed to the curb, or hauled away, depending upon the volume of snowfall
- If six inches of snow or more fall, bike lanes will be cleared within 48 to 72 hours after all vehicle travel lanes have been cleared of snow. Snow from bike lanes will either be pushed to the curb, or hauled away, depending upon the volume of snowfall
