Snow Removal

Snow Plan Summary

It is the policy of the municipality of Anchorage to plow, store, or remove snow from publicly owned rights-of-way.
Arterial and collector streets and priority1 sidewalks are to be plowed with first priority. Remaining streets and Priority 2 sidewalks in the Anchorage and Drainage Service Area (ARDSA) will be plowed to full width within 84 hours after the snow storm ends, with driveways gated.
Snow from cul-de-sacs will be placed on adjacent rights-of-way where space is available.
As resources permit, snow will be hauled only from streets with rights-of-way of insufficient width to store snow.
"No-parking" hours for snow removal in the downtown area will be from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.
Sidewalks in the Central Business District are completed by the Anchorage Downtown Partnership and will be enforced by the Right of Way Enforcement Division.
Ice Control throughout the city will use aggregate pre-wetted with liquid deicer for selected intersections, hills, school bus stops and other high hazard areas. Aggregate will be used in residential areas when road conditions require it.

2023-2024 Anchorage Municipal Snow & Ice Control Plan

Activating a Snow Alert

A snow alert forewarns various levels of authority of an impending snow or ice storm.

The Street Maintenance Division has primary responsibility for disseminating information to the public, including the media when requested. Status updates on snow control operations will be issued as events develop and current information will be available to callers who use our Hotline number, 907-343-8277.

Snow and Ice Alert Response Levels

Designated snow routes have been determined by traffic volume, public transit routes,school bus routes, hospitals, schools and/or hazards such as hills, curves and intersections. In the CBD, special parking restrictions also go into effect. In a Level 1 response, Snow routes, sidewalks and the CBD are plowed while residential streets are plowed under Level 2 and Level 3.

1. Level1 (zero to four-inch snowfall):

Snow routes will normally be plowed using underbody truck plows mounted on dump trucks and aggregate hauling trucks. When required, aggregate placement and sidewalk plowing will be done simultaneously with plowing.

2. Level 2 (four or more inches of snow):

All Level 1 activity continues. graders with gates will plow all residential streets. Once the snow has stopped falling a plow out with a goal of a 84 hour completion shall be declared. The Manager of Street Maintenance has authority to escalate the amount of equipment and personnel engaged in storm activities through the use of additional private contract or other Municipal agency resources to meet necessary time frames. The City Manager or a designee also has authority to implement certain' provisions of the emergency parking ordinance, including blanket authority to direct APD to tow illegally parked vehicles off streets to allow plowing operations to proceed

3. Level 3 (Snow Emergency):

When Street Maintenance is unable to maintain roads at an acceptable level,the Administration may declare a snow emergency. A Level 3 response will constitute maximum effort in providing all available resources (private and public) to clear roadways.

Snow Hauling Priorities:

The following are the priorities used to determine the order in which an area's snow is hauled:

a. The CBD area bounded by 3rd & 9th and A & L Streets is hauled from 9.00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., as needed, These streets are hauled by plowing snow to the center and using a snow blower to place snow into trucks for hauling to a snow storage site.

b. Snow routes are hauled by one of two methods, depending on the configuration of the street and amounts of snow. On streets with no center median, snow is pulled from behind the curb by a grader from both sides of the street to the center where it is picked up and hauled. On streets with a center median, snow is pulled from behind each curb and each side is hauled independently

c. Townhouse areas, condominium associations, zero-lot lines, business parks, and other areas lacking adequate snow storage along the side of street or roadway will be hauled as in (a) above. After all the streets in the Municipality have been plowed and areas denoted in (b) above have been hauled and on an as-needed basis, snow will be removed from cul-de-sacs and eyebrows when time and budget allow. Wherever possible, snow piled in the cul-de-sacs and eyebrows will be placed in the right-of-way behind the curb between driveways and walkways. If there is not enough room to store snow in this manner, Street Maintenance will haul it away

Other residential areas will not be hauled unless the streets become too narrow to allow the passage of emergency vehicles or become dangerous in some other way i.e., excessive ice accumulation. Snow hauling in residential areas will be at the sole discretion of Street Maintenance.

You can read the full 2023-2024 Snow & Ice Control plan HERE.