Screen shot from City of Alexandria video
A look at Alexandria snow-plowing efforts.
The big storm dumped about 7 inches of snow on Alexandria, according to the National Weather Service, that switched over to sleet over the weekend, playing havoc with local streets. The City of Alexandria offers this guidance on street plowing and more:
To check on the plowing priority and status of your street use the City’s SnowReport tracking system.
Once a snow emergency is declared by the City, additional information will be available via eNews alerts, Facebook,Instagram, and X.
If you have a life-threatening emergency, call 911 immediately. For other emergencies related to snowstorms, call 311 or 703.746.4311 or contact us online. Please do not call this number to ask when your street will be plowed; see the information below regarding street-cleaning priorities.
Complaints about compliance with the sidewalk ordinance may also be made by calling 311 or 703.746.4311.
City crews treat and plow primary roads (which include snow emergency routes) followed by secondary routes (including hills). After these priorities are addressed, crews will begin plowing intermediate and then residential streets.
SNOW EMERGENCY ROUTES
Any road where stopping and parking are not permitted during snow emergencies to maintain the flow of traffic for public safety purposes and to permit snow plows unimpeded access to the roadway. If your vehicle is parked on a snow emergency route during a winter weather event it should be moved immediately. Vehicles remaining after a snow emergency is declared may be towed at the owner’s expense. Snow emergency routes are posted with red and white signs, and listed in the City Code:
- King Street from Union Street to the western City limit
- Washington Street from City limit to City limit
- Duke Street from Washington Street to the western City limit
- U.S. Route No. 1 from City limit to City limit
- Braddock Road from North West Street to Beauregard Street
- Howard Street from Braddock Road to Jordan Street
- Jordan Street from Duke Street to Howard Street
- Eisenhower Avenue from Holland Lane to Van Dorn Street
PRIMARY ROUTES
Primary routes are our first priority for plowing and applying materials. Primary routes are the major streets and snow emergency routes that run throughout the City and near schools and hospitals. Plow trucks are first assigned to primary routes and then move quickly to secondary routes.
SECONDARY ROUTES
Secondary routes include local and neighborhood streets and most Metro and DASH bus routes. Plowing of these routes often occurs in tandem with or closely after the plowing of some primary routes. Depending on the severity of the storm, Metro and DASH may offer limited service or temporarily shut down.
INTERMEDIATE ROUTES
Intermediate routes include any streets requiring special attention in snowy conditions (such as steep hills) that are not currently classified as primary or secondary routes. Intermediate routes also include a few smaller residential streets that are more commercial in use (i.e. service several businesses and/or industrial buildings). Plowing of these routes often occurs in tandem with or closely after the plowing of some secondary routes. Upon completion of intermediate routes, crews will move into residential routes.
RESIDENTIAL ROUTES
Residential routes are primarily roads in neighborhoods and subdivisions adjacent to single-family residences, apartment buildings or smaller mixed use development. Crews will move into residential routes upon completion of other priorities.
