Snow Removal

The Street Department is in charge of keeping the City of Fort Wayne's streets free of ice and snow during inclement weather. Whenever there is a danger of icy or snowy conditions on the roadways of the city, the Street Department will monitor conditions and respond accordingly. When snow or ice begins accumulating on the streets, plowing and/or salting operations will commence.

The city is divided into eighteen (18) snow routes with each route assigned a minimum of two trucks. Streets in each route are prioritized as one (arterials), two (collectors and Citilink bus routes), and three (residential). Priority one streets are the first streets to receive plowing and salting. Whenever the priority one streets are deemed safe for travel during or after a snowfall, the city's plow trucks begin operations on the priority two streets. After these streets are completed, trucks will move in to residential streets if there is an accumulation of three inches or more of snow. If during plowing operations on priority two or three streets it begins to snow again and priority one streets become slippery, trucks will be dispatched back to these streets as needed.

While no snow event is exactly the same, as a rule of thumb it usually takes 10-12 hours AFTER the snow stops falling to plow and salt priority one and two streets. Residential streets generally take 48 hours to plow, assuming we can stay at it and do not have to move back to priority one or two streets.

To view the listing of streets where no parking is permitted during a snow emergency, click here

• View the New Snow Manual and Routes (requires Acrobat Reader)