The Oak Ridge Central Services Complex is pictured above after a previous snow. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

The City of Oak Ridge has a winter weather plan. You can read the 2015-2016 Winter Weather Plan here.

The plan includes information on how snow and ice removal are prioritized on streets. City-maintained streets have been prioritized into four categories according to volume of traffic, or public health and safety factors.

• Level 1: State highways and hospital routes
• Level 2: Arterial streets, feeder streets to state highways and known trouble spots such as hills and shady areas.
• Level 3: Collector streets, streets providing access to subdivisions, and the main connector streets at the neighborhood level.
• Level 4: All other local neighborhood streets are categorized as Level 4. Many of these streets have on-street parking and provide minimal turning space for snowplows. The decision and ability of the Public Works Department to clear Level 4 routes is based on a number of factors, including current and predicted weather conditions, safety for parked vehicles, salt/chemical reserves, and the threat of additional inclement weather.

[Read more…]