Winter Guidelines

Annual Winter Parking Ban (Nov. 15 - Mar. 15):

It will be unlawful for the operator or owner to cause, allow, or permit any vehicle to be parked on any street within the City of Bath for a period of time longer than 30 minutes between the hours of 12:00 a.m. (Midnight) and 6:00 a.m. of any day, from November 15 through March 15 (Bona Fide emergency calls exempt). 

Municipal Parking Lots

It shall be unlawful to cause, allow, or permit any vehicle to be parked in any Municipal Parking Lot overnight between November 15 and March 15.

Penalties:

A notice of illegal parking shall be issued with fines ranging from $30 to $50 plus the cost of towing and impoundment.

Please contact the Bath Police Department with any questions at (207) 443-5563.

Sand:

Bath residents are allowed two (2) 5-gallon buckets of sand per storm. Our sand bin is located at the south entrance to the public works garage (450 Oak Grove Avenue). Sand is only for residents and not for contractors spreading sand for their customers. 

Reminders when Clearing Snow:

• For residents who park vehicles in driveways, please keep sidewalks clear so our sidewalk machines are not restricted in doing their job.
• Please do not push snow into sidewalks or public streets as this is not only against Maine state law, it is also costly and time-consuming for the Public Works Department to send vehicles and manpower out to go back to clean up a street or sidewalk.

Downtown Sidewalk Snow Removal:

The city will be responsible for snow removal on properties in the downtown area. However; property owners or occupants are still required to remove or properly treat the ice from the sidewalks adjacent to their sites, as well as any icicles that overhang streets or sidewalks.

This Ordinance was updated (11/15/2023). The Ordinance is available on the City’s website at https://www.cityofbathmaine.gov/city-ordinances - Chapter 15, Sec. 15-20 - or from the Codes Enforcement Office.  Anyone with questions is encouraged to contact the Bath Codes Enforcement Office at (207) 443-8334.

Winter Plowing:

The Public Works Department maintains 52 miles of city roads during the winter. We divide this mileage into 12 plow routes.

WHEN A STORM BEGINS:
For night time and weekend storms The Bath Public Works Department relies on the Sagadahoc Communications Center to call our Foreman when road conditions deteriorate. When a snowstorm (or freezing rain) begins, 6 plow trucks with sand/salt units start work by first salting the major arteries (High St, Washington St, Congress Ave, Old Brunswick Rd) as well as hills and intersections. The goal is to keep the roads as safe as possible and try to keep the snow or ice from packing down and bonding to the pavement.

AS THE STORM CONTINUES:
When two to three inches of snow accumulates, the sand/salt trucks return to the garage and plows are attached. The entire fleet is sent out to start plowing the roads. Again, we concentrate on the main arteries followed by the side streets and our goal is to keep the travel lanes open. plowing continues until the storm subsides, when plows start to widen the roadways out and clean up and push back at the intersections. The city has many dead-end roads which take more time to plow. It takes 3 to 4 hours to complete a typical plow route so for intense storms a significant accumulation can develop in the roadways while plowing is ongoing - be prepared.

If you have concerns that a piece of your property was damaged by City snow removal equipment, please call the Public Works Department at (207) 443-8357. 

Winter Sidewalk Plowing:

Sidewalks in Bath are given one of three priorities for clearing after/during a storm. Please view this map for more information.

Plowing sidewalks is entirely different from plowing roads. A smaller, lighter sidewalk plow can get pushed around by heavy snow making it tough for the driver to stay straight on the sidewalk and making it more likely that the machine could damage lawns, fences, shrubs, steps, etc. There are many more obstacles like fences, signs, poles, and hydrants which prevent the plow from passing cleanly or at all. The snow from the streets is plowed over the sidewalk making clearing a much slower process. When the sidewalk plow is finished, a path has been created with walls of snow on both sides. This traps ice and melted snow which then refreezes overnight. And there are no storm drains on sidewalks to allow the water to drain away. Finally, sidewalk plowing equipment is inefficient in spreading sand or salt, taking those tools right out of the toolbox. 

Because of these reasons, sidewalk plowing is much slower than street plowing. It is very possible that sidewalks will not be cleared before the next storm comes along. In that case, the first priority sidewalks are plowed again before work continues onto second priority sidewalks. Third priority sidewalks will not typically be cleared until public works performs a snow removal on that street. That means all the snow is piled up and loaded onto trucks to be hauled to a storage area. Depending on the frequency of storms, the variability in temperatures, the amount of snow that falls through the winter, and impacts on safety, a snow removal may occur many times or not at all on any given street.