Winter Tips
The Town Highway Department wants to provide the best possible service clearing our streets of snow and ice. Here are a few tips to help our crew do their job.
Tips
- Avoid calling municipal offices during a storm for routine matters. Personnel are extremely busy dealing with storm conditions. It is best to keep telephone lines clear for emergencies.
- Do not place rubbish or recycling bins in the street during snow storms, as they will interfere with snow plowing.
- Do not shovel snow into the road or have your driveway plowed into the road. This can cause a serious traffic hazard. Also, it is a violation of town by law.
- Don't be misled by trucks running with their plows raised. They may be returning for fuel or may be en-route to another area.
- Don't drive unnecessarily in a storm, especially during severe snowstorms and freezing rains.
- Help reduce the possibility of a broken mailbox post. Plow operators are urged to take precautions to avoid hitting mailbox posts; however, experience has shown that reduced visibility during a storm makes it difficult for a driver to see a mailbox post in time to avoid striking it or pushing it over with plowed snow. Any installation within the right-of-way, including a mailbox, is placed there at the owner's risk. Therefore, owners are encouraged to install mailboxes at the maximum usable distance from the edge of the roadway. Posts should also be checked for deterioration to reduce the possibility that the weight of the plowed snow may simply break the post.
- If a storm is anticipated, remove vehicles from the roadside shoulders. This allows plows to clear the area the first time through, making return trips unnecessary.
- The Town of Shrewsbury has a year round parking ban prohibiting cars from being parked on public streets from 1 to 6 a.m. Vehicles that interfere with removing of ice and snow from any public way of the town are subject to a fine and the vehicle will be towed at the owner's expense.