Why does the snow get pushed back so far off the roadway?

There are several reasons for needing to push back the snow beyond the edge of the road each storm; all of which are with safety and cost effectiveness in mind:

1- To ensure there is room for more snow later in the year

2- To keep the road as wide as it should be for the safe passage of vehicles; especially emergency vehicle traffic

3- When the snow banks are completely off the road, warm day snow melt has the best chance of staying off the roadway and not causing slippery conditions in a sub-freezing overnight resulting in additional cost in machines and man power to handle.

4- Snow & Ice are just forms of future water- as such, they should be kept off of and away from the road as much as possible to keep this eventual moisture out of the structure of the roadway.

These operations can sometimes lead to torn up road shoulders and grass if they are not pitched correctly away from the roadway. We make every effort to avoid this situation but it is impossible to keep it from happening everywhere. This is especially challenging during early season and late season storms when the road shoulders have not frozen.