With the 1st significant winter weather event of the year hitting the area during the work week, the Town of Halifax would like to explain to residents, businesses, property owners and public agencies how the snow removal efforts are coordinatd between the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Halifax County and the Town of Halifax.
VDOT is responsible for plowing the public roads (primary, secondary, residential) throughout Halifax County including within the Town of Halifax corporate limits. VDOT snow removal crews/drivers & contractors working for VDOT each are assigned a specific territory and responsibility. When snowfall occurs, crews are dispatched simultaneously to their assigned territory and snow removal routes are prioritized accordingly with major highways and high volume primary & secondary roads cleared first. Once the most heavily traveled roads and emergency routes are adequately clear, crews/drivers move to less-traveled secondary roads and residential streets. Snow removal on privately maintained roads is the responsibility of the property owners along the road or the homeowner association.
Driveway entries along curb and gutter streets and pipestem driveways along ditches are privately owned and maintained by the property owners. Snow removal is the property owners' responsibility.
- Residents should not clear their dirveways back into the street until the street is cleared completely on a final route; this will only result in the snow being pushed back into the driveways. Please do not approach the drivers and request additional snow removal or removal on private property.
Once the most heavily traveled roads and emergency routes are adequatyely clear and during the secondary road and residential street operation, VDOT crews/drivers & contractors working for VDOT, Halifax County and the Town of Halifax will begin clearing on-street parking areas in front of businesses, residences and public agencies along Main Street where necessary.
- Business owners & patrons and affected residents & agencies should utilize off-street parking (where practical), during this stage of the operation. Crews/drivers are instructed that if they approach an on-street parking area with unattended vehicles that would restrict their width and ability to maneuver the snowplow, not to clear that area.
VDOT is not responsible for clearing sidewalks. Sidewalks treated by County & Town personnel before, during & after a snow event are those fronting County owned building/property, Town owned buildings/property and nearby approaches to designated crosswalks downtown. County & Town personnel do not treat sidewalks in the residential neighborhoods. Business owners are responsible for the sidewalk in front of their respective establishments.
- Residents & businesses are asked to keep sidewalks safe. As soon as feasible, please clear snow off the sidewalks in front of the property so that all pedestrians, especially those with disabilities and the elderly, may walk securely. Sand, not chemical de-icing compounds should be used to prevent sidewalk damage.
County/Town personnel and contractors perform snow removal for off-street parking lots related to general county/town properties. Clearing is conducted on a priority basis, with government centers, police, fire and other emergency facilities having highest priority.