Snow season arrives in Spokane, and plow season along with it

With a light dusting Saturday and a couple inches forecast this week, snow season has officially arrived in Spokane, and the plows are ready.

The city’s winter street operations run from Nov. 15 through March 15. Not much has changed since last winter, which Streets Director Clint Harris told the City Council Tuesday was a marked improvement over prior years.

“Based on feedback from the citizens, we tried to do more plowing sooner,” Harris said.

Harris did note, however, that crews are asked to try harder this season to avoid dumping snow onto sidewalks.

Crews will be deployed for maintenance plows whenever a notable amount of snow accumulates on the roadway, prioritizing hills, major arterials, hospitals and school routes. South Hill residents may see their handiwork Wednesday morning, with as much as 2 inches of snow forecast overnight, though warmer weather is expected to melt much of the snowfall before crews reach most of the city.

“We won’t know until we see what the actual snowfall is on Wednesday,” said Public Works spokeswoman Kirstin Davis. “Whatever the forecast brings us, we’re ready to handle.”

Three inches of snowfall trigger full-city plowing operations, which is meant to plow every mile of roadway in city limits within three days, with additional crews pulled in from other city departments to bolster manpower. These operations follow the same prioritization as maintenance plows, so residential neighborhoods in low-lying areas may have to wait longer before their streets get plowed.

During snow season, residents are asked to park on the side of the road with odd-numbered addresses to make as much room as possible for plows to clear roads and dump snow to the side. Cars cannot be parked in certain areas downtown between midnight and 6 a.m., and while Harris told council members Monday that the department tries to avoid calling for a tow, they will do so if necessary.

RVs, boats, trailers and basketball hoops should also be stored for the winter in order to avoid blocking plows.

The plow fleet has 19 snow gates, allowing crews to avoid blocking driveways and alleys with snow berms – though Harris cautioned that this equipment reduces but does not eliminate berms.

Because those gates slow the movement of plows, they are typically not used on arterials in order to avoid slowing traffic.

Property owners or in some cases tenants, depending on their lease agreements, are responsible for clearing a large enough strip of the sidewalks next to their residences and businesses to allow pedestrians, including those in wheelchairs, to travel safely. Clearing at least a 36-inch path is recommended by the city streets department.

The city encourages residents to talk to their neighbors and offer to lend a hand for those unable to shovel.

Residents can call 311 if they have questions during plow operations.