INDIANAPOLIS — When the flakes are about to fly, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works launches its snow removal plan.
City crews will clear about 4,000 lane miles of thoroughfares and secondary streets across Marion County. Also treated will be ADA-accessible ramps within the Downtown Mile Square.
Some of the city's greenways, trails, and walking paths might also get cleared.
You can see real-time snow removal crew updates on the Indy Snow Force Viewer.
Snow removal strategy
When temperatures and the weather allows, Indy Snow Force crews work to pretreat the roads.
The crews will first clear major city thoroughfares. Examples would be Keystone Avenue, Washington Street, and Fall Creek Parkway.
Next, crews will clear secondary streets, which are roads that connect major city streets to residential streets. Examples of those would be Southeastern Avenue, Mitthoeffer Road, and Ditch Road.
Plowing "connectors" along residential streets
Indy Snow Force will not clear residential streets for every winter weather event, but it will clear 300+ centerline miles in denser residential areas as conditions allow.
While there has generally been a 6-inch rule, where connector roads won't get cleared until at least 6 inches of snow has fallen. The new rule allows DPW crews or contractors to hit those streets if only 4 inches of snow has fallen but temperatures will remain below freezing and drifting is expected.
A map of the "connector" streets (shown in blue) can be found here.
Resident responsibilities
People are responsible for clearing the area around their mailboxes. People also need to clear the sidewalks in front of their homes, business or property.