Plowing - frequently asked questions

Why is the city plowing over my lot connection?

The snow mass to be plowed has to fit somewhere. When there is already an embankment by the side of the road, the snow is released at the site junction. Imatra has a lot of land connections. Opening one is a small thing, but if we wanted to open all of them, we would have to increase the equipment a lot. Winter maintenance would cost several hundreds of thousands of euros more of taxpayers' money. In road maintenance, the responsibility is divided between the properties and the city. The city is plowing the roadway, the real estate is responsible for removing the plowing embankment formed at the lot junction. The division of responsibilities is recorded in the Street Maintenance Act.

The neighbor pushes the snow from his wall onto the street, I do the same.

It's not worth it, because the snow pushed onto the street will be moved to the next plot junction during the next plowing. The entire removal of that snow belongs to the owner of the property. Road maintenance responsibility is stipulated in the Street Maintenance Act. In the worst cases, the street fills with snow so badly that it can be very difficult to move there.

Real estates are not allowed to move snow from their plots to the city's street or park areas, but must reserve a place for snow on their own plot. If necessary, the snow must be transported to the snow collection points. The obligations also apply to the renter of the plot.

The plowing embankment is terribly large - why?

The previous lot junction has been emptied into the street area, so the snow moves to the next lot junction. Piles of ice have accumulated on the roadway. When the weather cools down a lot, a lot of slush forms on the street, which when plowing comes off down to the bottom. The snowfall has been exceptionally abundant.

Why hasn't it been plowed? It's already seven o'clock and it still hasn't been plowed. Why isn't the city doing its job?

The carriageways are divided into three categories based on traffic importance. The streets are maintained in the order of urgency according to the maintenance classification.

If the snowfall lasts a long time, the streets are kept in drivable condition. Since the main streets and the largest collector streets must be kept open by law to protect commuting traffic, the plowing equipment sometimes has to return to the main streets, even though not all residential streets have been plowed.

However, our maintenance will do its best to manage the situation. Then, for example, steep hills, intersections, pedestrian crossings, bus stops and the like are taken into account.

Due to wrongly parked cars or other similar obstacles, plowing has not been possible on some street or road sections. Finishing work after snowfall is done immediately after plowing.

Will a plow run over me? How many children must die before the plows slow down? The noise of the aura and the flashing lights disturb my sleep at night, is there anything that can be done?

The speed of the plow must be high enough to move the snow mass and not get stuck while plowing. A plow pushing snow behaves differently than a car. Our ploughmen, however, take the environment into account when working so that the work does not cause any danger.

It is good to tell children that when they see a plow, they should move to the side, so that the machine has a safe working space and the child can continue on the plowed road. Plowing at night is safer than during the day. There is less traffic than during the day, and in this case, there is more work space for the plowman and, if necessary, also for the snow removal trucks.

Why isn't it sandblasted already?

Sometimes there is a delay in sandblasting due to our limited equipment, as there are a large number of fairways to be renovated. The sandblasting has been done, but when the weather cools down, the sandblasting sand sinks through the ice, making it useless in combating slipperiness.

Safe movement can be promoted by the city sanding the roads in a reasonable amount of time and the person choosing non-slip footwear.

For more information:
Responsible master Kimmo Kauhanen,  spring. ladleimatrankipa.fi (kimmo[dot]kauanen[at]imatrankipa[dot]fi)