Snow Plowing Updates for Jan 28 2023

by Charlie Romines, Streets Superintendent
posted January 28, 2023 2:49 PM

All City of Madison streets will be plowed this evening beginning at midnight.  There will be no snow emergency in effect tonight (January 28, 2023).  Please choose off-street parking options overnight as fewer obstructions in the road assist plowing operations.

While the snow is falling, Streets Division crews will remain on the main thoroughfares plowing them and sanding where needed.  As a reminder, it is too cold to apply salt so crews are only putting down sand on the main streets where needed.

These roads will remain snow covered and slippery due to the lack of salt, so all roadway users are encouraged to use caution while traveling through the City.  Slick road conditions are expected to continue for several days while sub-salting temperatures persist.  Please factor this in as you consider your travels in the coming days and allow for extra time to get to your destinations.  As always in on the roads in winter weather, please make good choices by being slow, patient, and alert.

Around midnight this evening, the snow is expected to taper off and the full citywide plowing operation will commence. The Streets Division waits to plow all city streets until the storm is at or near its end to reduce the need to go back and plow all streets a second time, which would only extend an already long process.
The Streets Division, Engineering Division, Parks Division and heavy equipment contractors combined will have roughly 150 pieces of snowplowing equipment on the roads pushing snow back to the curb during the overnight hours.

Citywide plowing can take 12 to 14 hours to complete the initial pass.  With the full city plowing to start at midnight, all residents can expect their street to receive their initial plowing by Sunday afternoon. Madison has approximately 1,861 miles of traffic lanes to plow, which is like driving from Madison all the way to the Mojave Desert in California – it just takes a lot of time to cover that much distance.

During the overnight hours into Sunday morning, you may encounter temporary blockages of snow at intersections.  This is a normal part of snowplowing as crews circle through neighborhoods working to push it out of the road and back to the curb.

As a reminder if you do encounter a plowing vehicle on the roads, please give it ample room so it can do its job safely. 

While the initial plowing will take 12 to 14 hours to complete, there will be additional cleanup later as crews work to push back snow that was blocked by parked cars or other obstructions during that first pass.  You can help plowing and reduce the need for crews to return later by choosing off street parking options and following alternate side parking where these rules are in effect tonight. As a reminder for the week ahead, please follow all posted day-time parking restrictions as plowing crews use those times to push back snow to the curb to keep streets wide, open, and safe for the next couple months of winter left for this season.

Streets Division crews will be monitoring the roads and the weather.  Future updates will be provided as operations adjust.

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