Have you ever wondered why some streets get plowed first when it snows or what the City’s policy is on plowing your neighborhood?

The City of Fort Wayne Street Department is responsible for keeping the roads clear of ice and snow when the weather turns bad. They monitor the conditions closely and act when the roads get icy or snowy. When snow or ice builds up, they get to work plowing and salting to keep the streets safe.

The City of Fort Wayne Street Department has divided the city into 18 snow routes, each with at least two trucks assigned to it.

When it snows, they prioritize the streets in this order:

1. Arterial (main) roads: These are the first to be plowed and salted. They move on to the next priority once they're safe for travel during or after a snowfall.
2. Collector roads and Citilink Bus routes:
3. Residential roads: These are treated last, but only if at least three inches of snow or more. If it snows again during plowing operations on priority two or three streets and priority one streets become slippery, trucks will be dispatched back to these streets as needed.

Every snowstorm is a little different, but as a general rule, it usually takes 10-12 hours after the snow stops falling to plow and salt the main streets (priority one and two). Residential streets typically take around 48 hours to clear, as long as we can keep working and don’t need to return to the main roads.