Indy is updating its snow removal policy to ensure that neighborhood streets aren’t left behind the next time a major winter storm comes to town.
The City-County Council voted unanimously April 7 to adopt a new procedure that calls for the Department of Public Works to plow all city streets if snow totals reach more than 4 inches.
The changes come in response to complaints about the current policy, which gave Indy DPW wide discretion in deciding when streets get plowed.
DPW opted not to send plows after a January storm dumped more than 8 inches of snow, frustrating neighbors who had difficulty navigating the city’s streets for weeks after the snowfall.
The new policy ensures that if snow totals exceed 2 inches, the city would plow what it terms “secondary priority” streets, which includes roads abutting schools, township offices, township small claims courts and connector streets.
If it snows more than 4 inches, the city would plow all remaining local streets.
Indy DPW will also publish a priority network of bike infrastructure that will be published in the Indy Snow Force Viewer page for real-time tracking.
Under the new policy, the DPW director also reserves the right to deploy plows at different accumulation levels based on changing road and weather conditions.
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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