Saint Paul: Snow 101

Department of Public Works

November 12, 2020

Overview

Winter Operations

Operational Challenges

Comparisons to Other Cities

Ticketing & Towing

Communications

Potential Pilots

How Can You Help?

Contacts

Questions

City of Saint Paul: Winter Operations

1,950 lane miles of streets

• County Roads: 246 lane miles

• State Highways: 122 lane miles

• City Streets (Arterial): 396 lane miles

• City Streets (Residential): 1,186 lane miles

186 Bridge Sidewalks, City Sidewalks and Public Stairs

97 Bridges

2,225 alleys – 330 miles (not plowed by City)

Bike lanes, paths and trails

City infrastructure requiring snow plowing

What is a Winter Event?

Winter Event: Any time Public Works responds to winter weather conditions

◼ Small: 2-7 trucks anti-icing or deicing bridge decks overnight to prevent frost buildup

◼ Medium: 2”-3” of snow. Salting and plowing operations on arterials and problem spots (residential hills, curves, etc.)

◼ Large: Snow Emergency declared

Average 20-30 Winter Events per year

2018-2019: ◼ 27 Winter Events ◼ 7 Snow Emergencies

2019-2020:◼ 19 Winter Events ◼ 4 Snow Emergencies

Progression of Operations and Decisions

Weather Forecasting PW monitors weather using multiple services Data Includes information specific to Public Works: pavement temperatures,

variability across the City, etc.

Climate change is bringing more variable temperature and icing conditions, reducing salt is good for the environment

Fringe events are difficult – Rain/sleet/snow

Brining minimizes bonding of ice/snow to road surfaces

Priority Routes◼ Bridge decks & downtown

◼ Arterials by traffic volume

◼ Residential hills/curves

Average 50,000 gallons/event

Anti-Icing & Brine

Winter Event to Snow Emergency Snow Emergency Declaration decision based on:

◼ Snow accumulation (3” or more)

◼ Snow/water ratio (fluffy or sloppy)

◼ Existing road conditions

◼ Future weather

◼ End of snow event

◼ Actions by other cities

A Snow Emergency is Declared by 3PM, start at 9PM

Decision makers:

◼ Mayor/Deputy Mayor

◼ Public Works Director

Public Works Operations Manager▪ Street Maintenance Division Manager

Communications: notify public of decision

Snow Emergency Parking Rules

Snow Emergency – 96 hours from 9 p.m. (4 days)

◼ Night Plow Routes – 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

◼ Day Plow Routes – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

◼ Clean Up Phase – 5 p.m. to remainder of 96 hours (approx. 72 hours)

Ticketing & Towing

◼ Begins at 9 p.m. with Night Plow Routes

◼ Continues for 96 hours

Winter Maintenance Service Levels Arterial Streets Plowed by City

◼ Include County and State roads

◼ Plowed and treated during Winter Events and Snow Emergencies

◼ Plowed and treated to bare pavement in drive lanes

◼ Plow compacted snow accumulated in parking lanes

Residential Streets Plowed by City

◼ Only plowed during Snow Emergencies

◼ Standard is safe and passable

◼ Plow compacted snow

◼ Salt high priority areas: hills, curves, school areas

The Art of City Plowing

72 plow routes – all streets in the City are plowed during the first 24 hours of a Snow Emergency

We start plowing throughout the City at the same time during the Snow Emergency Phase (Day/Night)

• Routes are timed to be completed within the night or day phase

Routes are maximized for efficiency

• Intersections, driveways, sidewalks, and differing boulevard & street widths require speed adjustments as well

Plow drivers continuously adjust speed to lift snow onto the boulevard

• Residential streets are not plowed to bare pavement

• Center cuts (plowing the drive lane and not parking lane) are done on arterial streets to maintain safe and passable roads, and are sometimes done on residential streets

Arterial street vs. residential street plowing

• Cars, recycling and garbage carts, bump outs must be plowed around and avoided

Avoiding urban obstacles makes City plowing more challenging

Pushbacks – Clean up Phase Needed because cars are not

moved during Night and Day Plow routes

Remove snow piles (windrows) left where cars were illegally parked

Clear windrows in intersections

Requires significant extra time and effort

Significant source of resident dissatisfaction

Operational Challenges

Lack of off-street parking

◼ More cars parked on-street around colleges and apartments

◼ Abandoned/snow-bird cars left parked on streets

Narrow streets

Multiple street and alley intersections

Snow storage space in boulevards

Residents and businesses plowing snow into the street

Steep hills

Bike lane maintenance

Lack of equipment and warm storage

Staffing – plow operators & ticketers

Comparisons

Minneapolis Routinely exceeds $13 million annual

snow budget

Belly plows on trucks (plow on the underside of the truck and not on the front) and can go into residential streets more frequently

More unannounced residential plowing

More center passes (plow drive lane and not parking lane) on residential streets

Complete pass in 36 hours during snow emergencies (20 hours for Saint Paul)

Use more sand (Saint Paul uses Best Practices of salting at 15F or higher)

Plows 18 miles of state and county roads (Saint Paul plows 107 miles of state and county roads, which are high priority)

Suburbs Seasonal parking bans

Wider streets

Predominantly off-street parking

Snow storage space is larger

Don’t have sidewalks on both sides of road – more snow storage space

State and county roads plowed by state and county

Ticketing & Towing Operation We have parking problems, not plowing

problems◼ Parked cars must be moved so streets can

be plowed◼ Off-street parking is not available in many

areas◼ There is low compliance of cars being

moved during Snow Emergencies

Ticketers: Full-time & temporary City employees, SPPD, parking enforcement◼ Need 70 ticketers to complete Night Routes◼ Need 70 ticketers to complete Day Routes

Tickets: 2,800+ per snow emergency

Tows: 700+ per snow emergency

Cost:◼ Parking ticket: $56 ( goes to Ramsey County)◼ Impound fee: $275.08 plus $15 storage a

day (goes to Tow company & SPPD)

Communications: Tools in our toolbox▪ 651-266-PLOW - New - now includes Spanish, Hmong, Somali

and Oromo

▪ stpaul.gov/snow

▪ Snow Emergency brochure - mailed in Sept. 81,000+ residents

▪ All-city employee email

▪GovDelivery emails & text alerts – 120,000 emails, 60,000 texts▪ English, Spanish, Hmong, Somali

▪Media outlets

▪ Social media▪ Nextdoor (1 multi-lingual message)▪ Facebook (1 multi-lingual message)▪ Twitter (4 tweets in different languages)

▪ City cable channel 18

▪ TPTs ERS message

▪ Paid digital – new 2020

▪Native Mobile App

▪ Snow Emergency Parking Map

Snow Emergency Timeline

Clean Up (5 p.m. – remainder of 96 hours)

External: Communications – Night & Day plow routes complete, park only where fully plowed to the curb, vehicles can still be ticketed & towed

Internal: Ticketing & Towing of snowbird vehicles, Pushbacks

Day Plow (8 a.m. – 5 p.m.)

External: Communications – Day Plow has startedInternal: Ticketers on routes & start ticketing, towing starts, Plows out

throughout city on Day Plow routes

Night Plow (9 p.m. – 7 a.m.)

External: Communications – Night Plow has startedInternal: Ticketers on routes & start ticketing, towing starts, Plows out

throughout city on Night Plow routes

Declared but not in effect ( approx. 3 p.m. – 9 p.m.)

External: Communications – Snow Emergency declared and winter parking rules in effect at 9 p.m.

Internal: Preparations

Leveraged feedback from user surveys and focus groups conducted in 2019-2020 Snow Season

◦ Mobile-first map design

◦ Fast and responsive map

◦ Focus on intuitive map design and functionality

◦ Easy to find snow phase information

◦ Resources for more information

◦ Accessible design

Custom Mobile Map for the City’s new website

18

Users can move between phases to park and plan for future phases 19

Home Button brings users

back to the full city view

Compass Button will

automatically locate the user

after permission is

granted

Users can search for

specific addresses or by

landmarks

Location will be indicated by red

dot

Users can navigate around the city to find parking tailored to their needs and location20

Users can access help including

language resources and tow

information

Users can change map types to get

the most compatible view

Users can move between phases to park and plan for future phases 21

Shareability • stpaul.gov/snow is now the one-stop-shop for all things snow

• Web-based solution means that it’s easy to share no matter your device

• Device and browser agnostic

• Encourage people to test and share

• Sign up for alerts while you’re on the webpage!

22

Easily add Winter Parking Map to your smartphone home screen

#1

#2

#3

#4

23

2020 – 2021 Potential Pilot Programs

Public Works will work with City Council, District Councils and Community Organizations to implement possible pilots

Snow Emergency Superstars

Local parking lots

Downtown Ordinance change and signage for night plow routes

How can you help? Before & during Night & Day Plow Phases

◼ Get the word out about the Snow Emergency through your channels◼ Answer resident questions & inquires◼ Direct residents to 651-266-PLOW or stpaul.gov/snow ◼ Use Snow Emergency Parking Map to help residents know when & where

to park

During Clean Up Phase – plowing & snow/ice related questions◼ Get the word out about the Snow Emergency through your channels◼ Answer resident questions & inquires◼ General clean up (icy areas, windrows, pushbacks) – email

snowemergency@stpaul.gov with detailed location information◼ Blocked storm drain – call 651-266-9850◼ Sidewalks not shoveled – call DSI at 651-266-8989◼ Damage caused by plow – call 651-266-9700 or email

snowemergency@stpaul.gov

How can you help?

During Clean Up Phase – Parked/Towed car related questions

◼ To request ticketing & towing of parked cars Call 651-266-9800 (option 2) with detailed location information &

car description

After Snow Emergency ends (96 hours) – call Police non-emergency at 651-291-1111 with detailed location information & car description

◼ To find towed cars Visit stpaul.gov/impound & enter VIN or license plate number

Call Cathlin Street (across from State Fair) at 651-603-6859

Call Barge Channel Lot at 651-266-5642

How can you help?

Recycling & Garbage – missed pick ups or delays◼ To find out about collection delays –

stpaul.gov/wintercollection

◼ Recycling Call Eureka at 651-222-7678

Visit EurekaRecycling.org

◼ Garbage Call garbage hauler – visit stpaul.gov/garbagemap to find

Advanced Disposal: 763-786-7233

Aspen Waste Systems: 612-884-8008

Gene's Disposal Service: 651-426-1224

Highland Sanitation: 651-458-004

Republic Services: 651-286-4590

Waste Management: 763-784-8349

Snow Emergency Info & Contacts

www.stpaul.gov/snow

651-266-PLOW (7569) Snow Emergency Status

651-266-9700 Street Maintenance

snowemergency@ci.stpaul.mn.us Street Maintenance

651-266-9800 Ticket & Towing Office

QUESTIONS?