COEUR d’ALENE — When snow falls, the city of Coeur d’Alene will be ready.

And citizens should be ready with shovels to do their part.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the 2023-24 snow plan with the goal of plowing the entire community within 40 hours of a snowstorm.

Todd Feusier, director of the streets and engineering department, outlined a 14-page plan that says the city doesn’t plow until there is 3 inches of snow on the streets and more is expected.

“Plowing operations will be initiated when snow depth on streets reaches a maximum of 4 to 5 inches, unless it is readily apparent that this action will not be warranted by changing weather conditions; or at 3 inches if continuing storms are predicted,” the plan states.

The first heavy snow of the season always generates a lot of public comments on snowplowing. One key issue is the use of snow gates, as residents usually object to being plowed in.

While snow gates will be used, it’s not a 100% guarantee.

“Snow gates may not be practical for extremely heavy or deep snow events," the plan states. "Therefore, after careful consideration, the streets & engineering director or designee is authorized to curtail use of snow gates under these circumstances.”

It goes on to state that “Citizens should always be prepared to clear driveways in these cases. In many instances, snow gates cannot stop snow flow to both driveways and mailboxes — the snow must go somewhere. Citizens should plan on removing snow from mailboxes.”

The plan says snow gates generally will not be used on arterials/collectors due to the large volume of snow pushed to the curb on wider streets, as well as the need to keep “gates” in residential areas. 

Equipment that can be called in includes four loaders with snow gates; four graders, seven dump truck plows, four de-icer trucks, three sand trucks and one salt truck.

Employees with streets and engineering, parks and recreation and water and wastewater departments will stand ready to join the battle.

“Our intent is to drive slowly enough so that snow is not thrown onto properties or vehicles parked on the streets, causing them damage, and still maintain enough speed to rapidly complete the process,” the plan states.

The city stands ready to name storms, too, with the theme of "North Idaho Rivers.”

During the winter snow season, streets and engineering administration will provide the following services: 

Office hours 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

Snow plowing schedule map updated on https://maps.cdaid.org/snowplow/ 

Recorded plowing status updates on the Snow Line, 208-769-2233