Frequently asked questions

If your street has not been plowed in the morning after snowfall, it means that we have not reached your street yet. Your street will be plowed, yes. Unfortunately, notifying us about it does not speed up the process, as the streets are plowed one at a time. If your street has still not been plowed after several days, please let us know.

Streets are plowed in order of priority determined by their maintenance classification. Roadways have been divided into three and pavements and bicycle paths into two maintenance categories based on their traffic significance. You can find the maintenance categories and action limits for roads and other routes in our feedback system (https://is.ramboll.fi/tre_yllapito_palaute/) by zooming in on the map and moving the mouse over the desired area.

If it snows for a long time, it may sometimes take us several days to reach the residential streets after the snowfall has ended. Because the main roads and major collector roads must be kept open by law to ensure commuting, snowplowing crews sometimes have to return to the main roads even if all residential streets have not yet been plowed.

Snow plowed from the road to the sidewalk:

Act on the Maintenance, Cleaning and Clearing of Public Areas, section 4 (15.7.2005/547):

“It is the responsibility of the plot owner to keep the sidewalk in front of the plot usable by removing snow and ice that hinders pedestrian traffic, and to take care of the prevention of slipperiness on the sidewalk and the removal of gritting from the sidewalk. In addition, it is the responsibility of the plot owner to remove snow windrows that have accumulated on or next to the sidewalk, and to keep the sidewalk and gutters next to the sidewalk free of snow and ice.”

Pavements and bicycle paths are plowed in the order of the maintenance classification. Roadways will usually be plowed first. This way, snow that has blown onto the sidewalk and bicycle paths during snowplowing can be removed in a single plowing operation. If the sidewalk was plowed first, the work would have to be done twice as plowing the roadway throws snow back onto the pavement.

The aim is to have the main routes plowed before commuting begins in the morning. During winter, weather conditions may change rapidly, making the condition of bicycle paths unsatisfactory.

The mass of plowed snow needs to go somewhere. When there is already a snow bank next to the street, the snow is pushed into driveways. Where possible, efforts are made to divert snow away from driveways, but plowing will inevitably push snow into the open space.

There are a large number of driveways. Clearing one driveway is a small task, but if all the driveways were to be cleared, the number of machines would have to be increased significantly. Several million euros more of taxpayers’ money would be spent on winter maintenance.

The responsibility for street maintenance is shared between the properties and the city: We plow the roadway, and the property is responsible for removing the snow windrow from the driveway. The division of responsibilities is laid down in the Street Maintenance Act. Act on the Maintenance, Cleaning and Clearing of Public Areas, section 4 (15.7.2005/547): “The plot owner is also responsible for the maintenance of the access road leading to the plot”

There must be a dedicated place for snow on your own plot. You are not allowed to move snow from the plot to the city’s street or park areas. The snow from the snow windrow must also be placed on your plot. If necessary, the snow must be transported to a snow dumping site. The same obligations also apply to the leaseholder of a plot.

Each plowing operation does not accumulate the same amount of snow to the different sides of the street. Efforts are made to keep the accumulation of snow balanced. This is not always possible if, for example, the weather has caused uneven snowfall.

If a street is plowed with a road grader, a considerable amount of icy snow will move from the streets onto the driveways. In this case, we will try to clear the blocked driveways or otherwise minimize the resulting windrows. In other cases, the property is always responsible for removing the snow windrow on the driveway.

In densely built areas, parking spaces are reduced during winters because the snow has to be placed somewhere. The driver must find a legal parking space for their car. A snow bank on a parking space does not give you permission to park illegally.

During winter, working during the night is the only possible way to get the roads cleared before the commuting begins in the morning. During the night, snow is plowed and loaded for transport, and roads are gritted in important areas. Plowing during the night is also safer and faster than during the day. There is less traffic and the possible transport trucks have more space to work with.

Slipperiness is tackled in the order of the road maintenance classification. Gritting is occasionally delayed due to limited machinery and the large number of roads to be maintained. Added delay is caused by the fact that part of the gritting is done with the same machines as the plowing. Therefore, the gritting can only start after the plowing is finished and the snowplow has been swapped to a gritting device.

As the weather warms up, sand sinks into the ice. When the surface freezes again during the night, the road can become slippery. In this case, we try to either grit the road again or scrub the frozen surface, allowing the sand from the day before to rise to the surface.

The best way to promote safe movement is for the city and residents to work together: we will try to prevent slipperiness by gritting the paths within a reasonable time, and the pedestrians should choose non-slip footwear and be aware of the possibility of slipperiness in changing weather conditions.

Bicycle path maintenance:

As basic quality criteria, we use the publication of the Association of Finnish Municipalities “Alueurakointi yleinen tehtäväluettelo 2003”, according to which:

– 3 cm of dry loose snow and slush are allowed on class A roadways and 5 cm on class B roadways

– Class A roadways must be cleared by 7 a.m. and 4 p.m. Class B roadways are cleared after class A roadways. The roadways are cleared during the work shift, if possible.

The gritting gravel used is stone crushed from bedrock. Due to its sharpness, it is much more effective in preventing slippage than round sand. Thanks to its shape, it does not roll off the road and provides good grip. The gravel is also a lot cheaper than sand, and it does not cause as much street dust during spring.

Puncture-resistant bicycle tires with a coarse pattern are the most durable option in winter.

Even if snow and ice have melted during warm days, it is often freezing at night, and the damp asphalt surface becomes slippery. This is the main reason to leave the gritting in place.

As we have a legal obligation to plow and prevent slippery streets, we cannot leave parts of the street without plowing or gritting.

Street spring cleaning is a balancing act between dust prevention and overnight ice. The worst street dust season is usually in March and April. The removal of the gritting will start as soon as possible without endangering pedestrian safety. The streets are washed and brushed with suction sweepers and brushing machines to the extent permitted by weather. All equipment and personnel are always fully deployed, as the aim is to remove the gritting as quickly as possible.

Cleaning is started on bus routes and major roads, which are the main sources of street dust and pollution. City centers with a heavy flow of people and traffic also tend to see high levels of dust. Although we focus our operations on these areas first, all roads and streets will be cleaned eventually. The cleaning work takes about six weeks in total.

We try to minimize the amount of street dust.

The street dust season usually starts in March, but the dust levels are at their highest in April. The gritting cannot be removed while it is dry, and water cannot be used to help in the process when it is freezing at night. The streets are washed and brushed with suction sweepers and brushing machines to the extent permitted by weather. All equipment and personnel are always fully deployed. Street spring cleaning is a balancing act between dust prevention and overnight ice.