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Safety is our top priority, especially as residents travel on the roads during the winter. Learn more about how we approach different types of weather events to ensure safe roads for all.

Snow Plows

There are a lot of road miles in Toledo, so we prioritize clearing roads with the most traffic first, and roads near important community resources like hospitals and fire stations. Use this map to see how the phases are applied to roads you use regularly and track where plows are in real time!

Plow Phases

Phase 1 (red)

All streets with traffic counts greater than 7500 vehicles per day including hospitals, fire stations, and the downtown TARTA bus loop.

Phase 2 (orange)

All streets with greater than 2500 vehicles but less than 7500 vehicles including TARTA bus routes.

Phase 3 (yellow)

Streets with less than 2500 vehicles per day but which serve as feeder lines to main arteries, streets adjacent to schools, churches, hospitals, funeral homes, major commercial and industrial areas and other places of high people concentration, TARTA bus routes and known hazardous areas.

Phase 4 (green)

All residential streets. Please note, residential streets are not salted except in extreme conditions, and are not plowed unless we experience a stage 3 storm event of more than 3" of snowfall.

Parking ban (blue)

In extreme weather, the City Safety Director may implement a parking ban on these TARTA bus routes and snow emergency routes. The ban will allow police to ticket and tow illegally parked vehicles on snow emergency routes, therefore providing access for the streets to be plowed from curb to curb.

Treatment Stages

Different treatment strategies are implemented based on the weather forecast to allow us to get the most bang for our buck. Please note, residential streets are not salted except in extreme conditions, and are not plowed unless we experience a storm event of more than 3" of snowfall.

Up to 48 hours prior to any predicted snowfall, brine is applied to bridge decks, arterial roads, and downtown streets. The brine helps prevent snow and ice from bonding to the road, and is most helpful for weather conditions when frost is likely.

Stage 1

• predicted ice or snowfall less than 1 ¾”
• city crews salt phase 1, 2, and 3 routes

Stage 2

• predicted ice or snowfall from 1 ¾” to 3”
• city crews salt and plow phase 1, 2, and 3 routes

Stage 3

• predicted ice or snowfall from 3” to 5” or drifting
• a snow emergency is possible in this stage
• city crews salt and plow phase 1, 2, and 3 routes
• front-end loaders are used as needed in high-traffic areas
• sister division crews plow the residential phase 4 routes

Stage 4

• predicted snowfall from over 5” with blizzard conditions
• a snow emergency will be declared and a command post is established
• city crews salt and plow phase 1, 2, and 3 routes
• front-end loaders are used as needed in high-traffic areas
• sister division and contracted crews plow the residential phase 4 routes
• snow removal and hauling is done by heavy equipment contractors as needed

Stage 5

• predicted snowfall from over 5” with blizzard conditions
• a snow emergency will be declared and a command post is established
• city crews salt and plow phase 1, 2, and 3 routes
• front-end loaders are used as needed in high-traffic areas
• sister division and contracted crews plow the residential phase 4 routes
• city crews will salt the most hazardous areas once plowing is complete
• snow removal and hauling is done by heavy equipment contractors as needed