Snow Removal

Snow Plowing & Driveway Information

Public Works receives many calls about snow being plowed into driveways. Plowing often leaves a berm of snow across driveway entrances, although the Village will try to keep berm creation to a minimum. Berm removal is the responsibility of the residents. The Village does not clean out driveway berms with a loader after plowing. There are hundreds of driveways in Highwood. It would be very costly and time consuming, as well as slow the process of snow removal. Also, there could be damage done to driveways and equipment attempting to do this.

Putting snow from driveways into the city streets is illegal and creates a hazard for drivers and a liability for the responsible party. When clearing your driveway apron, it’s best to pile snow past the driveway in the direction of travel.

A common request related to this is asking that the driver turn or lift the plow blade at driveways. Since our main goal is to open the primary roads as soon as possible, lifting of blades at each driveway would slow down the snow removal operation significantly and leave snow on the road that may in turn be a hazard.