City Of Duluth Is Developing New Snow Emergency Route Rules

With all the snow and storms we have had in Duluth in the last 12 years an actual snow emergency has never been issued. The reason? The ordinance that is in place right now refers to snow emergency routes, which are determined by signage throughout the city. But in case you had not noticed there are no signs.

Last year the city heard from plenty of citizens who were not to happy with snow removal so over the past few months several departments have gotten together to revise the current policy. This plan was presented to the city council last night and a vote is expected by November 11.

This project will involve installing 2,800 new "Snow Emergency Route" signs on 120 miles of city streets. The goal is for each neighborhood to have at least one main route to get to the center of the city. Because it will take months to install this many signs everywhere the new ordinance would not go into effect until winter of 2020-2021.

According to WDIO Here is the proposed schedule for a snow emergency declaration:

4 p.m. - Deadline for the Public Works Director to declare a snow emergency
4-9 p.m. - Drivers can move their cars from snow emergency routes
9 p.m.-2 a.m. - Police and Parking Services will ticket or tow vehicles that have not been moved
2 a.m.-6 p.m. - Plows will clear the snow emergency routes

Once a route is cleared, people can park on that street again. They do not have to wait until 6 p.m. to move back. This winter the city will be focusing on city sidewalks being cleared within 24 hours of a storm. The city of duluth does have a website to report streets that need to be plowed and other weather related issues.