Winter Walking and Cycling

[robdrimmie]

Has any jurisdiction tried the experiment of plowing snow toward the middle of the road? Leave a pile along the centre line rather than two piles at the sides. Of course, they would have to do something about intersections and driveways would become right-in, right-out, but it should avoid problems with bike lanes, sidewalks, and driveway entrances.

I have seen this...somewhere...but I don't recall where.

They already could do this without any logistical challenges in some places...and in fact, they already do it in some cul-de-sacs, but any road with a middle median could have snow ploughed there, and there wouldn't be ANY adjustment to make.

I'm on a road with a middle boulevard, on a bus route. Snow is pretty much never plowed into the middle during the first 48 hours or so of a storm. A few days after when clean-up is going on, they will often clear into it, but the worst of the plowed snow has already ended up in our driveways. Every now and then one of the drivers will just run up the street backwards (it's a one-block access road into a subdivision) which is always a nice bonus to wake up to, but we've been here 17 years and it's not something that happens even annually.

My understanding of why they don't - which is unconfirmed neighbour chatter - is that it takes too much time to change the blade angle.