Driveway/sidewalk Snow shoveling ???

[kproud876]

Can someone please give me a logical reason on why people shovel snow back into the middle of a street that has already been plowed? I just don't understand how this is a good idea. I commute 45 minutes to work every day and this makes me so mad. It drives me crazy to see people shooting their snow blower out of their driveway when they could just shoot it over to the side of the yard. It now causes a hazard for everyone else! The plow is not coming back again! Am I missing something?

 

[ronandannette]

Can someone please give me a logical reason on why people shovel snow back into the middle of a street that has already been plowed? I just don't understand how this is a good idea. I commute 45 minutes to work every day and this makes me so mad. It drives me crazy to see people shooting their snow blower out of their driveway when they could just shoot it over to the side of the yard. It now causes a hazard for everyone else! The plow is not coming back again! Am I missing something?

It's not ideal, I agree but in some places there is literally no other choice. The picture below would be very typical of a neighbourhood here where the houses are close together and the front yards are very, very small. At a certain point in winter it can be impossible to even throw the snow high enough to keep piling it up on either side of a driveway. Pushing it out into the street is simply all one can do.

 

[kdonnel]

The first time I went to Minnesota(Minnesota is beautiful in July) I asked the friends we were visiting why the roads had such wide shoulders. I was told that was where the snow was piled in the winter. I am so used to snow falling, getting a day or two home while it all melts, and getting back on with life.

I had never really thought about the logistics of snow that does not melt the next day.

 

[Disneylover99]

Can someone please give me a logical reason on why people shovel snow back into the middle of a street that has already been plowed? I just don't understand how this is a good idea. I commute 45 minutes to work every day and this makes me so mad. It drives me crazy to see people shooting their snow blower out of their driveway when they could just shoot it over to the side of the yard. It now causes a hazard for everyone else! The plow is not coming back again! Am I missing something?

Shovelling snow, ice or slush onto the street is not allowed in my city. Most people are pretty good at following this bylaw around here.

 

[jrmasm]

Laziness. Same reason people don’t clean off the top of their cars.

 

[DisneyOma]

The photo shown has plenty of open area for more snow to be shoveled onto - the driveway doesn't have to be that wide, since it looks like only one car width (by the tire tracks). In my city it is also illegal to push the snow back into the street, or across the street into someone else's property. I've been known to go out there and shovel it back into their driveway. It's even better when the town plow comes back around, sees all the snow in the street, figures out exactly where it came from, and angles it back across their driveway

We've had to put poles and other markers around our yard to keep people from dumping snow on our property. The salt mix kills our grass and has severely damaged our maple trees. One time one neighbor wanted to put all his driveway snow in our lower driveway! Um, no, we clear that because we don't have on-street parking in the winter, and so our guests need to park there.

 

[ronandannette]

Shovelling snow, ice or slush onto the street is not allowed in my city. Most people are pretty good at following this bylaw around here.

Luckily Calgary doesn't have a bylaw like that. If we did there would be 1,000's of households that would simply be stranded in their own garages for weeks at a time. And I guess turnabout is fair play because it often happens that the City snow plows will come down a street and bury all the driveway aprons.

Laziness. Same reason people don’t clean off the top of their cars.

No, honestly it isn't; at least not where I live. You just can't pile it up more than 4' or 5' feet vertically - even if you were strong enough it just comes sliding back down.

 

[jrmasm]

Luckily Calgary doesn't have a bylaw like that. If we did there would be 1,000's of households that would simply be stranded in their own garages for weeks at a time.
No, honestly it isn't; at least not where I live. You just can't pile it up more than 4' or 5' feet vertically - even if you were strong enough it just comes sliding back down.

If you say so.

 

[ronandannette]

If you say so.

Given the conditions I'm describing, what would you do? Sincerely asking - I'm always up for learning.

 

[Disney_Alli]

I actually thought that Calgary did have a bylaw against shoveling snow back into the road... I could be wrong though. Our snowbanks sure are HUGE this year.

 

[ronandannette]

I actually thought that Calgary did have a bylaw against shoveling snow back into the road... I could be wrong though. Our snowbanks sure are HUGE this year.

Pretty sure we don't - how impossible would that be to enforce? No way to tell who's snow is whose this winter.

 

[kproud876]

We got about 12 inches of snow today. Tonight it will freeze and anything in the road is now a completely driving hazard. I had the pleasure of witnessing a neighbor Snow blowing with his nozzle into the street and asked him why..reminded him the plow wasnt coming back. He said the salt truck would. Einstein! Still a hazard until it completely melts. I’d have to agree with lazy on this one or just no common sense!

 

[LAB81018]

Because a good deal of what ends up on the sidewalk/end of driveway can come from the plow. So town/city giveth, residents giveth back. That being said, most places I know of prohibit the practice, never heard of it being enforced though.

 

[Disney_Alli]

I found in our by-laws that you can clear snow from the sidewalk adjacent to your property onto the road but no other snow or ice can be dumped there. Section quoted below:

The owner or occupant of a parcel of land adjacent to a Street may remove ice and snow from the Sidewalk or Pathway adjacent to the parcel and place it on the Roadway or Boulevard of a Street but shall not remove any ice or snow from the rest of the parcel and place it on the Roadway or Boulevard of a Street.

 

[ronandannette]

I found in our by-laws that you can clear snow from the sidewalk adjacent to your property onto the road but no other snow or ice can be dumped there. Section quoted below:

The owner or occupant of a parcel of land adjacent to a Street may remove ice and snow from the Sidewalk or Pathway adjacent to the parcel and place it on the Roadway or Boulevard of a Street but shall not remove any ice or snow from the rest of the parcel and place it on the Roadway or Boulevard of a Street.

What part of town do you live in? How's your snow removal been this season? Blessedly we live in a school zone so our street is kept up pretty well but many of the neighbourhoods I visit for work are total nightmares.

 

[aprilgail]

The plow is not coming back again! Am I missing something?

? I don't get why the plow wouldn't come back again? Do they only come by once by you? Since it started snowing today I must have had at least a dozen plows come down the street and tomorrow when people are digging out their cars walks etc they will still be coming around plowing so anything thrown in the street from sidewalks would get plowed to the side.

 

[nene0182]

I live in N.D. and it’s against city ordinance to blow snow into the street or alley. People do it of course, but I also know of people who have been fined as well. My husband did it once after we got over a foot of snow and the guy just shook his head at him and said no. I’m sure he does it in our alley as well since there is no where else to our snow but it’s not as easy to be caught there.

 

[kproud876]

? I don't get why the plow wouldn't come back again? Do they only come by once by you? Since it started snowing today I must have had at least a dozen plows come down the street and tomorrow when people are digging out their cars walks etc they will still be coming around plowing so anything thrown in the street from sidewalks would get plowed to the side.

We live in a normal suburb neighborhood. The plow comes by typically once at the end of the storm. Even when we lived in the city we never had multiple plows go by. We usually have a salt truck go by soon after. There is plenty of space to put any amount of snow we get. The yards are descent sizes and the driveways are all double wide. There is no good reason (other then poor decisions ) on why these people are putting snow in the street. I guess they don't think about the consequences of causing a road hazard. Maybe some day if they end up in the ditch from hitting a patch of ice created by a snow pile they might think twice. Here's to hoping it doesn't come to that. Just a little common courtesy might be nice.

 

[Disneylover99]

? I don't get why the plow wouldn't come back again? Do they only come by once by you? Since it started snowing today I must have had at least a dozen plows come down the street and tomorrow when people are digging out their cars walks etc they will still be coming around plowing so anything thrown in the street from sidewalks would get plowed to the side.

The plow is pretty much once and done around me. It may come back a second time if it's a particularly heavy snowfall, but that's about it.

 

[Turn the Page]

? I don't get why the plow wouldn't come back again? Do they only come by once by you? Since it started snowing today I must have had at least a dozen plows come down the street and tomorrow when people are digging out their cars walks etc they will still be coming around plowing so anything thrown in the street from sidewalks would get plowed to the side.

If her road commission is anything like ours it would probably depend. We live on a side street off a main road that is roughly 2 miles from a county road commission facility....you know, where the plows live. The plows will go back and forth on the main road all day long and not hit our road. I had to call 911 last year because we got 26 inches of snow overnight (not exaggerating, we measured) and the plow hadn't bothered to come by a single time by about 3 in the afternoon. We were completely snowed in. These days we are lucky to get one pass with the plow per snowfall and if it isn't more than 4 inches or so forget it, the plow won't come by at all.

The guy who usually does our road is an interesting character. We live on the left side of a cul de sac and are the last house on the street so no houses at the end or on the right side. The driver will come down the hill hugging the right side of the cul de sac (where no houses are) and then plow a swath right up the middle which means he is a good 10 feet away from our driveway. The cul de sac drops down into a valley so the plow can just scrape all the snow right off the edge and get it out of the way which is nice.....but he still doesn't get within 10 feet of our driveway which I can't really figure out.