Snow Removal
The Novi Fire Department asks everyone to help keep the snow
cleared from around fire hydrants on your property.
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What about sidewalks?
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The
City's ordinance requires residents and business owners to clear all ice
and snow from sidewalks within 48 hours of the end of a snow storm with
an accumulation greater than two inches. For lots that abut
intersections, this also includes clearing sidewalk ramps.All you need to know....about SNOW (and its removal)
The City of Novi's Department of Public Services provides snow and ice removal services to maintain safe conditions for motorists, as well as for pedestrians on City-owned property. This winter, Novi's DPS crews will maintain all public roads in the city, except those maintained by the Road Commission for Oakland County (Haggerty Road, Eight Mile Road, Napier Road, Pontiac Trail, and Fourteen Mile Road), and the Michigan Department of Transportation (I-96, I-696, I-275, and M-5).
DPS follows these established priorities to systematically remove snow and ice from City roads:
- Major roads, emergency routes, school bus routes.
- Police and fire facilities, bridges, and local/residential
streets with significant hills and/or curves.
- Local/residential streets, public parking lots and sidewalks abutting city-owned property.
The following winter road maintenance policy was adopted in order to reduce costs, preserve worker safety and protect the environment without jeopardizing public safety:
Level 1: Snowfall Less Than Four (4) Inches; No Accumulation of Ice
Major city and county roads will be plowed and salted on a continuous basis as needed to keep the pavement as bare as possible at all times. Once major roads are cleared, local roads will be plowed and spot-salted on a continuous basis as needed at steep grades/sharp curves and at intersections only. During normal weekday working hours, local roads will be cleared to keep the pavement as bare as possible.
Level 2: Snowfall of Four (4) Inches or More; Any Accumulation of Ice
Major city and county roads will be plowed and salted on a continuous basis as needed to keep the pavement as bare as possible at all times. Once major roads are cleared, local roads will be plowed and salted on a continuous basis as needed to keep the pavement passable at all times during a storm. Crews will continue to work on local roads on a continuous basis to achieve bare pavement once the storm has ended.
In addition to deploying plows for snow removal operations, DPS uses pre-wetted rock salt to prevent ice from forming on the pavement, and to melt ice if it does accumulate. DPS crews also spread sand on recently-paved concrete roads and on bridge decks .
How You Can Help
There are several ways in which citizens can help make this winter's snow and ice removal operations much smoother:
- Snow emergency ordinance - please be aware that if a snow
emergency is declared, vehicles must be moved off of public
streets so that plow trucks can safely remove snow and ice.
Failure to move your vehicle could result in ticketing and/or
towing the vehicle at the owner's expense.
- Interacting with City snow and ice control equipment - Always
stay a safe distance of at least 50 feet behind DPS trucks.
- Sidewalk clearing - it is your responsibility to clear the
sidewalk abutting your property per City ordinance.
- Mailbox clearing - it is also your responsibility to clear
around your mailbox, otherwise the U.S. Postal Service may not
deliver your mail.
- Driveway clearing - When your street gets plowed, snow from
the plow's blade gets deposited along the edge of the street -
including at the entrance to your driveway. Please be aware that
the City does not plow drive approaches. Also, please do not move
snow back into the roadway as it creates an added hazard for
vehicles, plus it violates the city's ordinance.
- Potholes - occasionally during the winter, potholes will
develop in the pavement - especially when there are multiple
freeze/thaw cycles. Please report potholes to DPS and they will be
filled as soon as practical.
- Items in the right-of-way - occasionally, items placed in the
public right-of-way get damaged by snow removal operations. Please
remove items such as portable basketball hoops, lawn ornaments,
statuary, etc. so they do not become damaged. The City is NOT
responsible for damage to items left in a street's right-of-way.
- Children - snow banks and snow plows are kid magnets. Please make sure your children do not play on a street's snow banks, and that they stay a safe distance away from plows working on your street.
Please call the Department of Public Services at 248-735-5640 if you have any questions or concerns about snow and ice removal on Novi's roads. Normal office hours are 7:30am to 4:00pm.