Salisbury Public Works   

   A Team of Teams Making A Difference !   

Overview.  The Public Works Department maintains all roads within the City of Salisbury during inclement winter weather except private roads and U.S. Routes 50 and Business 13.  The private roads are maintained by various businesses or homeowner associations.  U.S. Routes 50 Business  and 13 Business are maintained by the State of Maryland State Highway Administration. 

Property Owner's Snow Removal Responsibilities.  All property owners adjacent to any street within the City limits are responsible for the removal of snow from their sidewalks.  The snow must be removed for the entire length of their property for a width of four  feet.  The removal must take place within six hours after the snow has stopped falling.  If the snow stopped between the hours of 5 PM and 7 AM, then the snow needs to be removed before 2 PM.  This City ordinance's purpose provides the ability for our residents and visitors to move freely and safely throughout the City without fear of an accident because the snow has not been removed from the sidewalk.  The property owner is liable for such accidents.   Also, it is important our school children use the sidewalks and not be forced to utilize the streets.   All of our citizens must be afforded the opportunity to travel on City streets in a safe manner.   Please help us make the City of Salisbury safe during severe weather conditions. 

City's Snow Removal Operations.  Our inclement weather plans are updated annually to incorporate the lessons learned from the previous winter season's experience.    We plow only the Snow Emergency Routes when snow depth is four inches or less.  When accumulation is more than four inches, all the other streets will be plowed after the emergency routes have been put in passable condition.  Our snow and ice removal equipment includes dump trucks with snow plows with salt bodies, road grader, front end loaders, and backhoes, all equipped with 2-way radios, night lights, heaters and flashing lights.   The Public Works Department employs about 60 people on three shifts during a large storm event.  

Snow Emergency Routes.  Certain streets are designated as Snow Emergency Routes.  They have been posted with signs and will receive first priority attention for plowing and salting.  When an emergency is declared by the Police Chief, disabled or parked vehicles and vehicles not equipped with snow tires or chains may be removed from these streets by authority of the Police Department.  This will ensure efficient clearing of the streets by Public Works equipment and maximum public safety.

Our Scope of Responsibility Includes:

• 497 named streets in the City with more than 157 street centerline miles (over 400 lane miles) which equates to 5,280 acres; and 

• 47.7 miles of snow emergency routes (69 acres); and

• All City owned parking lots.  A total of 18 parking lots located in or adjacent to the Historic Downtown Business district with more than 4 acres of surface area; and

• All sidewalks on City property (examples are the City Park and Zoo).

Our Equipment.  To perform the work, we use 16 pieces of major equipment consisting of:

• Nine dump trucks with plows.  Seven of the nine have salt spreaders.

• Four backhoes, two front loaders, and one grader.

Return to:     City of Salisbury Main Page            Public Works Main Page

This web page was last updated in January of 2013.  If you have any questions, corrections, or comments contact Salisbury Public Works at (410) 548-3177 or (410) 548-3170.