Snow Removal

Snow Removal by HOA on Community Greenbelt, Sidewalks

Effective 2023-2024, the HOA will provide a limited amount of snow removal on the community greenbelt paths and some sidewalks. Snow will be cleared from these areas after an accumulation of 3 inches and the snow has stopped. Homeowners are reminded that just because a path is cleared of snow it is not a guarantee of safe passage.

From the October 2023 Board Meeting Minutes in the November 2023 Homestead Herald:

“Snow and ice removal was initiated in a trial last winter and was received with much appreciation from many homeowners. The Board continues to acknowledge that not all residents believe snow removal is necessary, but the majority of feedback is in favor of snow removal. As was discussed at the annual meeting, a community vote is not required to commence snow removal. The neighborhood foliage has changed significantly with mature trees shading many sidewalk areas, especially the major thruway of Easter. Once a major snow is not cleared, significant areas that never get sun remain snow- and ice-packed for the remainder of the winter. Homestead has many walkers of all ages, many of whom resort to walking in the street when the sidewalks are icy. This is extremely dangerous. The Board has fully researched all legal issues and accepted the legal recommendation to regularly remind homeowners that just because a path is cleared of snow, it is not a guarantee of safe passage. The Board agreed to accept the Snowology snow removal contract for 2023-24.”

Snow Removal Policy of City of Centennial

Weather conditions are monitored, and snow plowing operations are initiated once accumulation on the pavement surface begins and snow can be effectively plowed. The City deploys up to 20 snowplows, depending on the storm intensity. Snow removal from streets with four travel lanes includes plowing travel lanes during the storm and turn lanes and paved medians after the snowfall ends, which may require pushing snow onto sidewalks in cases where the sidewalk is attached to the curb. Streets with two travel lanes are plowed as wide as possible without pushing snow onto the sidewalk.

Materials

Prior to snow plowing operations, anti-icing liquids such as magnesium chloride and/or salt brine may be applied to street and bridge pavement to reduce bonding of packed snow and ice to the pavement surface. During normal operations, a deicer material, such as Ice Slicer, a dark-colored salt, is spread on paved surfaces to assist with reducing snow pack and ice. Deicing materials allow the City to eliminate the use of sand except when pavement temperatures are below 5 degrees Fahrenheit and sand may be needed as a traction material. For environmental and cost reasons, the City uses best practices to minimize the quantity of deicing and anti-icing materials used.

Plow Trucks and Global Positioning System (GPS) Equipment

Plowing operations are performed by trained operators using tandem-axle or single-axle dump trucks equipped with a plow and liquid or granular deicing material spreader.  The spreaders are equipped with computerized controllers.  All of the trucks are equipped with an Automatic Vehicle Location/Global Positioning System (AVL/GPS) to track the location of every snowplow.

Sidewalks

The City’s snowplow operators attempt to keep snow from being plowed onto sidewalks of Priority 2 and Priority 3 streets. Unfortunately, due to poor visibility at night or during a storm, the snowplow operators are not always able to judge the distance to the curb and snow sometimes ends up on a sidewalk. If this occurs, the City will not remove the snow; however, the street maintenance crew supervisors should be informed of any incidents to determine if snow plowing practices can be adjusted to reduce the chance of this happening. Please call the Citizen Response Center at 303-325-8000 to report an incident to the Street Maintenance Field Services Manager.

Driveways

The City’s snowplows will create a build up “windrow” of snow across driveways in the normal course of street plowing operations.  The resident, business owner or property owner is responsible for opening driveways that are plowed closed by City snowplows.  Since a plow truck may have to make several passes on the street during and after a storm, residents and businesses may have to remove the windrow more than once. The City understands the frustration this may cause residents and others clearing their driveways, but this is an unavoidable consequence of plowing snow.

Street Closures

In the event of a severe winter storm, snow plowing operations may be limited to the major arterial streets (Priority 1 snow routes) and it may become necessary to close streets or portions of streets to traffic. The Arapahoe County Sheriff may restrict the type of vehicles that may be operated on City streets during severe weather conditions and may order certain streets to be closed. Every effort will be made to alert the public of any restrictions and/or closures through the news media, community contacts and the City’s website.

Priority 3 Snow Routes (residential streets) Plowing

When directed by the City Manager, snow plowing will be expanded to include Priority 3 residential streets after the Priority 1 and 2 streets are completed. One pass in each direction on each street by a pickup-truck snowplow and the use of no deicer material is the extent of service for the Priority 3 residential snow plowing.