The plowing season is underway — see the principles of plowing here

Imatra has more than 500 kilometers of streets and cycle paths. In order for their plowing to go smoothly and systematically, the roads are divided into three plowing categories.

The first category includes main roads and the cycle paths along them. First class streets are marked this link to the map on green.

These streets will be plowed if there is three centimeters of snow on a weekday or five centimeters on the weekend.

Second-class streets are marked in red on the map. They are the second in the plowing order and are plowed when there is at least five centimeters of snow.

The third category (in blue on the map) includes a large part of the residential streets.

KIPA takes care of the west side of Vuoksi and the main streets on the east side.

—The residential streets on the east side of Vuoksi are being plowed by an external contractor, foreman Jarmo Varjus says.

Instructions and KIPA receives funding from the Urban Development Board. The board determines the quality level and the allocation. These are assigned to Mitra, and Mitra, in turn, buys the service from KIPA.

The aim is to start plowing at night

The amount of snow is monitored by the personnel working during the day on weekdays. In the evenings and on weekends, the snow situation is monitored by a person on duty, who also gives the plowing machine a departure order if necessary.

In addition to the amount of snow, the quality of the snow is monitored: slush snow is different from powdery freezing snow.

In the best situation, plowing starts in the morning between two and three o'clock. Plowing at night is preferred, as it is easier for plow drivers to work on empty streets.

—The goal is also to ensure that the morning commuter traffic can travel on plowed streets, says Varjus.

However, it is not always possible to start at night.

—Sometimes you have to start plowing during the day, and sometimes it can snow so much that after a couple of hours the street is covered again.

In such situations, the departure order is always considered on a case-by-case basis: should we wait for the heavy rain to stop or should we plow part of the streets despite the heavy effort.

Calmness and factual feedback

Not everything always goes as planned, and plowing can be delayed. You can give factual feedback to KIPA about delays and other problems on the website or by phone.

However, before giving feedback, it is worth noting that the city is divided into nine plowing areas.

Plowing starts from the first grade, and it can take up to 12 hours to plow one area. So it can take a while for the car to arrive on your home street.

Municipal residents are also often upset by the fact that the plow driver does not turn the plow at the lot junction, but the plowing may create a bank on the border between the street and the yard.

However, turning the plow does not solve the problem, because by doing so, the snow moves to block somewhere else.

Plowing and cleaning of the plot connection is the responsibility of the plot owner. If, for example, the resident is unable to take care of plowing for health reasons, it is worth getting help.

For more information:

Foreman Jarmo Varjus, jarmo.varjusimatrankipa.fi (jarmo[dot]varjus[at]imatrankipa[dot]fi)

Click here to open the map.