Snow Removal

Snow & Ice Control in the City of Tallmadge


Public safety is the first priority during snow and ice control on the city's 100 miles of streets.

City Snow & Ice Control Policy

The city's policy is to ensure roadways are maintained in such a manner as to minimize economic loss to the community, prevent or reduce accident or injury, and provide safe access for emergencies by Fire, Police and Ambulance services.
Snow Plow
  1. Weather Conditions
  2. Control Process
  3. Complications
  4. Extreme Conditions
The implementation of plowing and salting are governed by weather conditions and by priority assigned to individual city thoroughfares. In the event of a snowfall, salt is generally applied for snowfalls of 2 inches or less. Plowing is initiated after accumulations of 2 inches.

Operation Scale


The size of the operation is based on the severity of the storm. We may use only one or two trucks to handle intermittent salting of isolated slippery spots but a full scale plowing for a major storm will use up to 11 pieces of equipment depending on available manpower. Snow and ice control is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week operation.

Highest Priorities


  • Highest priorities are assigned to main thoroughfares, i.e. East and West Avenues.
  • Next, in order of priority are collector streets (secondaries), those connecting main roads, i.e. Overdale Drive, school zones and designated hills and curves.
  • Finally residential streets can be plowed and or salted after higher priority roads are cleared and remain clear.

For additional perspective on the priority of streets and thoroughfares for snow and ice control, view the Priority Map (PDF).