Snow Plowing Update: Citywide Plowing Begins at Midnight

Citywide plowing operations will begin at midnight. Please choose off-street parking options to assist snowplowing work. There is no declared snow emergency in effect.

Operations Tonight Until the Citywide Plowing Begins

The additional wave of snow arrived promised by the forecasts arrived around 6:00pm. Streets Division plows will be circling through the salt route network of streets. Crews will be plowing and applying salt as needed to these routes. 

All Streets to be Plowed Starting at Midnight

At midnight, Streets, Forestry, Engineering, Parks, and our heavy equipment contractor partners will begin the citywide plowing operation. The combined plowing fleet is roughly 150 vehicles.

The initial plowing pass takes roughly 12 to 14 hours to complete. With the operation starting at midnight, it would be reasonable to expect every City of Madison street to receive their initial plowing pass by roughly 2:00pm on Saturday, January 17.

Why does plowing take so long?

All told, our city has 1,858 miles of traffic lanes that need to be plowed. That is like driving from Madison all the way to Mojave Desert in California. Many roads require multiple passes to push the snow all the way back to the curb.  And all that lane mileage does not include the hundreds of miles of pavement from pathways, bus stops, parking lots, and sidewalks cleared of snow. It’s a big operation that just takes a lot of time.

How you can help the snowplows

Choose off-street parking options if possible. Fewer obstructions in the road mean snowplows can push snow back to the curb more effectively. 

There is no declared snow emergency with this event. However, if you park in the Snow Emergency Zone tonight, all of the snowplow drivers would appreciate if you would follow alternate side parking rules or choose off-street parking options to help the snowplowing work this evening.  

Traveling through Madison tonight

Expect snowy roads and slippery conditions. Snow chances remain through the evening hours as well. Stay alert. Remain patient. Be slow. Anticipate your stops and turns so you do not slide. Make good choices. 

Monitoring Conditions

Streets Division staff will continue to monitor the roads and the weather. Operations will adjust as conditions require. Future updates will be provided. v