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 typical winter storms. Because each snow event is unique, pre-treatment, plowing and salting operations will be evaluated on an event-by-event basis, based on the type, temperature, severity, longevity, and timing of the winter event. These are general guidelines only.
Every road in Troy is classified as either 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.
When possible, the City will pre-treat the streets with a liquid brine mix. It can only be applied on dry pavement, and cannot be used in the case of rain followed by snowfall. This treatment can prevent snowfall of under one inch from sticking to roads, and it helps alleviate larger snows from bonding to the road. When the forecast allows, City crews may pre-treat local streets one or two days in advance of the forecasted event. Primaries will be pre-treated as close to the forecasted event as possible, to minimize the elimination of brine by heavy vehicular traffic.
SALTING OPERATIONS – Primary roads are the first priority for salting, which will occur any time the roads become icy and slick and when snow accumulation is less than 3 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 may begin once Primary roads are generally covered by three or more inches of snow, regardless of the time of day or night of the event. Often, the City plows when there is less than 3 inches of accumulation due to the weight of the snow, severity of the event, speed at which snow is falling, etc. Please note that in the case of a major event (four or more inches of snow), plowing of Local streets may be restricted to providing a single path, in order to provide two-way traffic on these streets.
INFORMATION FOR PROPERTY OWNERS - Troy residents and business owners are reminded that City Codified Ordinances will require all property owners to:
- NOT blow, shovel or plow snow into City streets. Violators may receive a ticket and fine.
- 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 come back 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.