Street maintenance, situation on 18 January 2024

Earlier this week, we transported a lot of snow to the snow dump site and made street areas wider by removing banks of snow. We also removed packed snow, as there is still plenty of it, especially on smaller roads. We are now focusing on snow ploughing and slipperiness prevention. 

Once again, we would like to remind all residents, housing companies and maintenance companies that snow cannot be piled up in city-owned areas. Instead, snow must remain within the property or be transported somewhere else, for example to the city’s snow dump site in Vanttila.

Each property owner is also responsible for removing snow banks from their driveway. We are able to clear roads more quickly when snow has been appropriately removed. It also makes it easier and safer to get around.

Melting snow and blocked street gullies may even cause local flooding in street areas when the temperature rises. To prevent flooding, it is important that ditches along the streets, culverts under driveways and sewer grates in the street area next to the plots are kept clear. The property owner or holder is responsible for these tasks.

It is important that culverts are always kept clear, also in the winter. If water does not pass through the culvert, it will stand in the ditch, penetrate into the road structure and flow onto the road. This will result in potholes, ground frost damage and cracks on the road. When water flowing on the road freezes, it forms ice and increases the risk of accidents.

The city has the right to temporarily store snow in city-owned areas, turning areas and parking spaces and on pavements. Once the streets have been cleared and maintenance work has been completed, we will start removing the piles of snow. This may take weeks.

It is important that you tell children that it is very dangerous to play in piles of snow. A cave dug in the snow may collapse. A pile of snow on the street or next to a parking lot is never a suitable playing area.

One incorrectly parked vehicle can prevent street maintenance work. To make it easier to clear snow from a specific area, we occasionally put up signs that ask people to temporarily move their vehicles elsewhere.

By parking your car correctly, you will make life easier for everyone – local residents, pedestrians, drivers and maintenance workers.

Our customer service works closely with maintenance staff and informs them about the feedback received. Please note that sending us feedback will not speed up the ploughing of your street. All streets in Espoo are cleared in order, one area at a time, based on their pre-determined maintenance category.

We ask you to send your feedback directly through the city’s online feedback system(external link, opens in a new window). Both our feedback and telephone services are quite busy from time to time, and waiting times may be long.

If you can, also send us a photo of the site in question. Based on the photo, we will be able to assess the urgency of the situation, which will accelerate the processing of your feedback.

You can also give location-based feedback through the Trimble Feedback mobile application(external link, opens in a new window). It is a quick way to send a message to customer service, for example concerning a need for maintenance. We go through all mobile feedback and forward it to experts who will take the necessary measures.