City Reminds Rosemount Residents of Snow Plow Schedule, Upcoming Overnight Parking Regulations

The is gearing up for winter, and has some information to share with the community regarding winter snow plowing and overnight parking.

Beginning Nov. 1, the city will not allow anyone to park vehicles overnight on city streets from 2 a.m. until 6 p.m. The city also restricts any vehicles to be parked on said streets with two or more inches of snow.

According to City Engineer Andrew Brotzler, the city plows 259 miles of street, which includes 109 miles of priority routes, in addition to 153 miles of cul-de-sacs.

The city also plows 34 miles of sidewalks and bike trails, and Brotzler said, “We will plow those routes on over-time. [The five miles of school routes] will be done prior to school hours on Monday morning.”

There are two miles of bike trails and sidewalks in designated that are considered third priority and due to the large amounts of snow last year; many of those did not get plowed. “When the times and conditions permit, we will try to get to those trails as long as we can do them safely and efficiently without damaging property or risking damage to equipment,” Brotzler said.

According to Brotzler, the city plows:

• When it has 2 inches or more of snow accumulation

• When drifting snow causes problems for travelers

• When icy conditions cause problems for travelers

“Two inches of snow is pretty much standard for when the crew is called to plow,” Brotzler said. He added that Public Works Supervisor Jim Koslowski usually makes the decision on when to plow.

Residents can also look to the city's website for brief updates on plowing.

"Last winter we also started experimenting with putting announcements of when we started plowing on our Facebook and Twitter pages. So, people following us on those two mediums had a little more of a clue than others might of," City Administrator Dwight Johnson said.

Mayor Bill Droste said, "...If we could figure out how to proactively communicate [about snow plowing], and if [you could] quickly go on a website and see a reasonable amount of information [it could be helpful]."

The city’s trucks usually begin plowing at 3 a.m., and they start on priority routes, which are designated as high-volume streets that connect major sections of the city. In addition, the city is divided up into nine local routes, which consist of residential streets, and that is the next area to be plowed after priority routes.

“We have nine primary pieces of equipment that we plow with: six plow trucks, two loaders and a road grater,” Brotzler said.

Last year, the city went through 17,000 gallons of fuel for plowing and 3 million pounds of salt. It also took an average of 10 hours to do a full plow operation.

For the upcoming winter season, the city is reminding residents to be mindful of some items:

• Improperly installed mailboxes

• Trash/recycling bins in the street

• 'Snowbird' parking on streets

• Snow storage in circles and on the downtown boulevard