State and local governments in North America spend about $2 billion annually ($1.5 billion in the United States) on winter maintenance of highway facilities. An estimated 46 of the 50 states, all of the Canadian provinces, and thousands of counties and municipalities have highway snow and ice control programs. This synthesis reports on the practices and state of the art in winter maintenance in North America. This synthesis report will be of interest to transportation agency maintenance engineers, managers, and operators and others involved with roadway snow and ice control including safety engineers, traffic engineers, and law enforcement agency personnel. It presents information on the state of the practice in managing roadway snow and ice control considering both rural and urban locations. The document describes the developments that have occurred during the past 20 years to improve winter maintenance. This report of the Transportation Research Board discusses winter maintenance policies and provides examples for state, city, and county agencies. Included in the discussion of winter maintenance policies are issues such as: levels of service, public relations, liability for services, and experimenting with new policies. Additional information is included on estimating winter maintenance benefits and costs; personnel and management issues; weather information systems; and materials, equipment, and facilities for winter maintenance. (A)
Abstract