Snow Removal

Snow Plow Policy

  • During regular work hours, the Department of Public Works determines when streets require attention. After regular work hours, the Officer in Charge will advise the police dispatcher to call in the snow crews when the conditions warrant.
  • The City of Trenton is currently divided into four snow removal zones with approximately 12 miles of roadways in each section. Each area is assigned a truck with a plow and salt spreader. Additional trucks may be assigned as appropriate. If weather conditions warrant, maintenance crews transition to 24-hour operations with a driver working a 12-hour day shift and a second driver working a 12-hour night shift. Once weather conditions permit, drivers revert to their normal work schedules.
  • High traffic streets are treated first to maintain access for emergency vehicles and traffic flow. This would include hills, curves, busy intersections, and school zones. Streets with lower traffic flow and smaller connector streets are treated next. Finally, low-traveled subdivision streets, dead-ends, cul-de-sacs, and alleys are treated.
  • Although drivers are given these priorities, they are able to adjust them due to practical experience, weather, or unforeseen conditions. Heavy snow or ice may cause them to change their priorities.
  • During prolonged snowstorms, it is necessary for the snowplow operators to make repeated passes on the main street to keep traffic flowing. This delays the plows from clearing the neighborhood streets.
  • During heavy snow events, extra time is required to clear intersections of snow ridges that result when plow drivers cross the intersection on either intersecting street.

Snow Plowing in Cul-De-Sacs & Alleys

Dead ends and cul-de-sacs are especially difficult areas for the larger trucks used on most through streets. As a result, four-wheel-drive pickup trucks equipped with plows are used on those streets to assist our larger trucks. Alleys will be plowed as needed.

Snow Plow Safety on the Road

  • The snowplow operator's vision is often reduced by blowing snow coming off the plow blade. Do not assume the snowplow operators can see you approaching. When following a snowplow, if you cannot see the side mirrors on the snowplow, the driver cannot see you. City crews can do a more efficient job when residents travel only when necessary and use off-street parking when available.
  • For your safety and the safety of the snowplow operators, give them plenty of room to make wide turns, keep a safe distance behind the plows, and do not pass the plows. Remember that snowplows must maintain a certain speed for the plows to be effective.

Safety of Children

Caution your children not to play in the snow piles or drifts near the street and to always stay clear of the snowplow.

Parking During Snow Storms

During snow events, residents are encouraged to use off-street parking. By parking off the streets, this enables the city snowplow crews to clear the streets more efficiently. Plowing around cars slows the plows down.

City of Trenton Mailbox Replacement Policy

  • Please inspect your mailbox to make sure wooden posts are not rotted underground and to also ensure that your mailbox is securely attached to its pole. Snow removal crews take great care, but occasionally mailboxes may be damaged during snow removal operations. Usually, if the mailbox is damaged, it is the result of a rotating base or unsecured mailboxes.
  • The City of Trenton will only pay for mailboxes that are physically hit by the plows. We do not pay, replace or repair mailboxes if they are knocked over by the snow and slush thrown from the plow. The Service Director or his designee will determine if this is the case. We will only replace them with a standard mailbox, white or black in color, our choice based on availability, and install them on a wooden 4 by 4 post. Service Department staff will install it when time and or weather permits or we will give the owner $75 toward replacing the mailbox themselves with a mailbox of their choice.

Guidelines When Clearing Sidewalks & Driveways

  • Snowplow crews first open the center of all the secondary streets, then return to push snow to the curb. Residents are encouraged to wait until the snow crews have completed pushing to the curb before removing snow from their driveways and sidewalks near the streets. There may be a long lag time between the initial clearing and the pushing back to the curb.
  • Residents are required by City Ordinance 660.05 to clear their sidewalks of snow accumulation exclusive of Sundays and Federally mandated holidays. Snow, ice, dirt, and other debris shall not be placed in the street, gutter, or sidewalk. Once the crews have cleared the street, do not push or blow the snow from your driveway into the street. Passing motorists drive over the fresh snow and pack it down. When the temperature drops, that snow forms slippery patches resulting in a driving hazard.