New statutes for winter road clearance
14.12.2022 – The city of Offenbach has a new winter road maintenance statute, which was adopted by the city council on Monday. It comes into force for the winter of 2023 / 2024 and is now legally up to date and more precise, replacing the version from 1999.
Obligation to clear on working days from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
It also regulates the transfer of the obligation to clear snow and grit ice from the city to the citizens. In future, anyone who owns a property will be required to clear snow and ice for longer: Instead of the previous deadline of 8 p.m., the sidewalk in front of the property must now be cleared to a width of at least 1.5 meters or gritted with sand or grit until 10 p.m. in the event of snow and ice. Salt is not permitted there.
While the clearing obligation previously only applied to weekdays from 7 a.m., the new version now also applies to Saturdays. Previously, there was an extra hour on Saturdays to shovel snow or clear slippery roads. On Sundays, it remains 9 am as before. If it thaws, grit must be swept up again.
To ensure that property owners have the necessary preparation time to organize the extended snow clearing obligation, the new bylaws will only come into force from the winter of 2023 / 2024. This means that facilities and institutions that have commissioned their own winter road clearance service or a company to do so will also have sufficient time to adjust their rosters accordingly or redesign contracts.
Specific requirements for winter maintenance on cycle paths
The new winter road clearance regulations also respond to the use of bicycles, which is being promoted as part of the mobility transition. Cyclists should be protected, especially in winter road conditions. The new bylaws therefore contain specific requirements for winter road maintenance on cycle paths and cycle lanes. As a result, the public utility companies responsible for winter road maintenance are obliged to carry out winter road maintenance on independent cycle paths, cycle lanes and cycle zones.
These have already been included by the Stadtservice of Stadtwerke, which are cleared in snowy and icy conditions. On the other hand, the winter maintenance obligation for dependent cycle paths - according to the Hessian Ministry of Transport, these are cycle paths that are part of a footpath - remains the responsibility of the owners of the developed properties.