Snow removal is another duty performed by the Street Department. Its primary goal is to provide for the safest driving conditions for the public during and after a snow event. The removal often takes place during the middle of the night. All available manpower and equipment is used to remove the snow in a safe and efficient manner. The city is divided into three sections for plowing operations. Typically, priority is given to the highways, downtown, arterial streets and around schools, then the crew moves into the residential areas. The equipment used for a snow event is as follows: two motor graders, two 4x4 plows with underbody scrapers, four plow trucks with sanders, three front end loaders, four haul trucks and one front-end loader with snow blower attached.

After a snow storm the City Street Department knows that you want your street clear as quickly as possible. For this reason our snow removal crews are doing their best to clear all residential streets.  But we need your help! 

Vehicles parked on the street during snow storms slow down removal Operations and sometimes make it impossible to plow certain streets.  That is why persons who keep their cars parked on the street continuously for more than twelve hours are subject to a parking fine and their cars may be towed.

But, perhaps you did not realize that your car was In violation of the parking code or that it is hindering snow removal operations. If it becomes necessary to return to plow the spot where your car was parked, we may plug driveways again and inconvenience you and your neighbors, as well as adding to snow removal expenses. Whatever the case, we are counting on your cooperation in the future by parking your car off the street during snow removal weather.

The City has a snow removal plan in which the major streets are cleared of snow first, then collector and residential streets are plowed. That is why it takes a little longer to plow residential streets since we do not have the equipment or manpower to plow all the streets at once.

In order to improve snow removal operations and increase accessibility to all residents during and immediately after a winter snow storm, the City Commission has designated the following streets as emergency snow routes:

(1) COMMERCIAL DISTRICTS

• Third Street from Mulberry Street to Linn Street
• Broadway Avenue from Second Street to Fifth Street
• Walnut Street from Second Street to Fourth Street
• Capital Street from Second Street to Fourth Street
• Douglas Avenue from Riverside Drive to Fourth Street

(2) OTHER STREETS AND AVENUES

• Summit Street from Fifth Street to Twenty-first Street
• Broadway Avenue from Fifth Street to Thirty-first Street
• Douglas Avenue from Fourth Street to Thirty-first Street
• Mulberry Street from Fifteenth Street to Donohoe Boulevard
• Burleigh Street from Fourth Street to Peninah Street
• Peninah Street from Eighth Street to Thirty-first Street
• Second Street from Broadway Avenue to SD Highway 50
• Fourth Street (Highway 50) from Fifth Street to Ferdig Avenue
• Eighth Street from West City Limits Road to SD Highway 50
• Ninth Street from West City Limits Road to Summit Street
• Fifteenth Street from Summit Street to Ferdig Avenue
• Nineteenth Street from Broadway Avenue to Ferdig Avenue
• Twenty-first Street from West City Limits Road to Penlnah Street
• Thirty-first Street from Broadway Avenue to Peninah Street
• Whiting Drive from Burleigh Street to East City Limits
• West City Limits Road from Eighth Street to Ninth Street
• Kellen Gross Drive from Twenty-first Street to Twenty-third Street
• Twenty-third Street from Kellen Gross Drive to Mulberry Street
• Twenty-fifth Street from Broadway Avenue to Mulberry Street
• Donohoe Boulevard from Mulberry Street to Regal Drive
• City Limits Road from Eighth Street to Ninth Street

All vehicles found parked or abandoned on these designated snow emergency routes will be towed and all charges for towing and storage will have to be paid by the vehicle owner in order to reclaim their vehicle. By plowing these streets first after a snow storm it will permit access to each neighborhood and to within a few blocks of every home. This will greatly improve the emergency services, such as ambulance, fire and police, as well as access for residents. Once these snow routes have been plowed, the plows will begin opening the residential streets. In order to make this plan work we need the cooperation of every resident living along these designated snow emergency routes.

Whenever it starts to snow please make arrangements to remove your vehicle from the snow route by parking it somewhere off the public street or around the corner on a street that is not on the emergency snow route. It Is very important that these snow routes be completely cleared Of snow as soon as possible and if vehicles are left on the snow routes, the snow removal from residential streets will be delayed by the time it takes to locate the owners of vehicles to have them removed or towed to permit these streets to be cleared to the curbs.

Once again, all vehicles parked or abandoned on any of the above listed snow emergency routes must be removed immediately after two (2) Inches of snow accumulation and no parking will be permitted on these streets until the snow has been completely removed from curb to curb. On all other streets, parking Is limited to twenty four (24) hours; therefore twenty four (24) hours after a snow has fallen vehicles that have not been removed from the streets so that snow can be cleaned to the curb, will be towed. 

If you have any questions about the City's snow removal policy please feel free to contact the City Street Department at (605) 668-5211. By working together we can make Yankton a safer and more attractive winter-time city.

Adam Haberman, Public Works Director 
416 Walnut Street
Yankton, SD 57078
Phone: (605) 668-5251