Winter Weather Treatment Policy

The following are guidelines on the City of Troy’s winter weather policies, intended to help residents and drivers understand the City’s approach to dealing with winter storms. Each snow event is unique, and the City's operations are determined using the type, temperature, severity, longevity, and timing of each winter event. These are general guidelines only.

Every road in Troy is classified as a primary, secondary, or tertiary (local) street:

• Primaries include main arteries, state routes, hills, bridges, and the streets immediately surrounding schools.
• Secondary roads connect primary roads to local residential streets. 
• Local streets include residential roads, dead-end streets, and cul-de-sacs. 

A map showing the roadway classifications can be found here.

PRE-TREATMENT OPERATIONS – When possible, the City will pre-treat the streets with a liquid brine mix. This treatment can prevent snow from bonding to the pavement. Brine can only be applied on dry pavement and cannot be used in the case of rain followed by snowfall. When the forecast allows, City crews may pre-treat local streets one or two days ahead of the forecasted event. Primary and secondary roads will be pre-treated as close to forecasted snowfall as possible, to minimize the elimination of brine by heavy vehicular traffic. 

SALTING OPERATIONS – Primary roads are the first priority for salting. Salting will occur any time the roads become icy and slick under snow accumulation of less than three inches. Depending upon the road conditions and other factors, secondary and local streets will also be salted, either at the same time or directly after salting of primary roads is completed. 

PLOWING OPERATIONS – Plowing typically begins when primary roads are covered by over three inches of snow.  Please note that in the case of a major event (four or more inches of snow), local streets may not be plowed curb-to-curb.

INFORMATION FOR PROPERTY OWNERS - Troy residents and business owners are reminded that City Codified Ordinances require all property owners to:

• NOT blow, shovel, or plow snow into City streets. Violators may be fined.
• Keep their sidewalks free and clear of ice and snow. Please remember to shovel snow from driveways and place it to the right side (looking out the driveway to the street) of your driveway so snow plows will not plow the snow back into your driveway. City crews cannot return to plow out driveways.
• Push the snow away from any fire hydrants and storm sewer catch basins. Keeping hydrants clear will greatly assist the Fire Department in the case of a fire, and the open catch basins will prevent street flooding when the snow melts.
• Remove vehicles parked on the streets so that crews can plow to the curb and vehicles are not plowed in with snow. 

For questions regarding snow and ice removal, please contact the City of Troy Central Service & Maintenance Facility at 937-335-1914.