Residential Streets and Plowing Shifts

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Residential Streets

When residential streets are plowed, residents will not necessarily see bare pavement. The emphasis for residential streets is to create a single passable lane down the middle, which can be navigated by passenger vehicles properly equipped for winter travel.

During heavy snowfalls, problems arise for residents when mounds of snow are left on the sides of streets which means driveways may become blocked by plowed snow. Although a concerted effort is made to plow in a manner that does not block driveways, it is not always successful. Residential streets are plowed down the center of the street in an effort to avoid covering sidewalks, parked cars, and blocking driveways. The City of Thornton does not remove or haul away snow as part of this program.

Snowplow Deployment and Shifts

When the snow hits, all of our crews and equipment work 12-hour shifts and, the City also has its contractors working to remove the snow.

There are 451 lane miles of primary street routes (like Colorado Blvd) in the City of Thornton. There are six lane miles of streets near schools, 195 secondary route lane miles and an additional 612 miles of streets for a total of 1,258 lane miles. Depending on the severity of the storm, the actual miles plowed and sanded are significantly more than the above figure since multiple passes could be needed to keep our major roadways open.