The next time it snows, your street could get cleared.
That’s what City-County Councilor Jared Evans, a westside Democrat, is hoping to accomplish. He introduced a proposal this week that would require the city to plow residential streets if snow accumulates up to 4 inches anywhere in Marion County.
“I think we recognize it’s a safety issue,” said Evans, who fielded numerous complaints about road conditions after a January storm dumped 8 inches of snow in Indianapolis. “Taking that into consideration, we knew that we needed to, as public servants, respond to our constituency.”
In some ways, Evans’ proposal would mark a return to a former city policy. Prior to 2020, the Department of Public Works would send contractors to plow residential streets if snow accumulation reached 6 inches.
The department changed the policy in response to years of mild winters. Now the city only clears major thoroughfares — think Keystone Avenue, Washington Street, Fall Creek Parkway — followed by secondary streets known as “connectors,” which includes Ditch Road, Emerson Avenue and Southeastern Avenue among others.
But then last month, Indy residents watched for weeks as residential streets went untouched following a Jan. 6 storm.
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As the weather turned colder and more snow accumulated the following weekend, snowy streets turned to ice, creating hazardous conditions. Some residents went without trash pickup for weeks because heavy trucks couldn’t safely navigate the slick, narrow streets.
In a contentious meeting last month, two DPW officials defended the current policy. They said that, in some cases, plowing a top layer of snow could leave a street covered in a sheet of ice, making driving conditions worse. They also said many residential streets are too narrow for the city’s 11-foot-wide plows.
It’s currently at Indy DPW’s discretion whether or not to send contractors to plow residential streets. That would change under Evans’ proposal.
Evans said his ordinance is intended to start a conversation that would result in a policy change.
“We want our residential streets included in the process. We’ve also given the administration 60 days to come back to us with a policy that includes that threshold,” Evans said. “We’re going to give them some time to create a new policy.”
Evans said his proposal also includes recommendations from the advocacy group Bike Indianapolis, which has argued that the city’s snow removal policy should extend to bike lanes, trails and sidewalks.
“People do not stop walking or rolling because there is snow on the ground,” said Jakob Morales, who chairs the Bike Indianapolis Advocacy Committee, in an emailed statement to Mirror Indy. “Thus, clearing our trails, bike lanes, and facilitating usable sidewalks is essential for safety, accessibility and economic activity.”
The council’s Public Works Committee is expected to discuss the proposal at its next meeting, which is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
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