Snow Removal Management

Snow removal management

We understand that winter weather can raise concerns about student safety, especially during snowstorms. Our number one goal is to make sure that our students, staff and visitors are safe on campus during a storm. This webpage provides a look at how our Facilities team manages snow and ice removal across our 400-acre campus — including roads, sidewalks and parking areas.

Before a snowstorm or winter event happens, the director of buildings and grounds, along with the grounds manager, put a plan together to combat the storm. This plan is shared with the vice president of operations and dispatch. Winter events are ever changing, and we plan accordingly.

We follow a priority system to ensure safety and accessibility:

1. Emergency route and main roads – first to be cleared for emergency vehicles.
2. Primary sidewalks – main walking routes between residence halls, classrooms and dining halls.
3. Building entrances and ADA-accessible paths – ensuring everyone has safe access to key facilities.
4. Parking lots and secondary roads – plowed after critical walkways and roads are safe.
5. Secondary sidewalks and paths – cleared once primary routes are managed.
6. Athletic turf fields – cleared after campus is completed.

Often, plans include pretreated roadways as well as an approximate time for essential personnel to arrive on campus. This time will vary due to the nature and trajectory of the storm.

How can you help our team keep everyone safe?  

• Please do not walk behind vehicles, sled down roadways or drive on campus unless absolutely necessary.
• Remain aware and keep your head up while walking on campus.
• Watch for snow equipment and slippery areas.
• Wear proper clothing and footwear to reduce slips and falls.
• Allow extra time to get to and from classes or other areas on campus.

Essential personnel and equipment

Our essential personnel are on call 24/7 for weather-related events. Essential personnel include seven truck plow drivers and one backhoe pusher for the roads and parking lots.  We use a fleet of plows, tractors and spreaders to keep walkways as clear as possible. We also use other equipment attachments such as snow throwers and brooms to assist in clean up. There are four snow shoveling crews that consist of 8-10 employees for steps and walks that cannot be reached with equipment. 

Our shoveling crews have ice melt for our steps, and we use two ice melt spreaders for our campus sidewalks. We use salt spreaders on our roads and parking areas. Even with these resources, winter weather conditions can vary significantly across campus.

Campus elevations and sun exposure create temperature differences across areas. Some areas freeze immediately or melt and refreeze. Please take extra caution on sidewalk paver areas. Parking areas such as the Pit and Witmer have varying elevations and can sometimes freeze quicker or stay frozen longer.   

Parking lots and sidewalks

Parking lots can be especially challenging during snowstorms since they are often full of cars. Our crews first clear the driving lanes so vehicles can get in and out. Snow that gets trampled around parked cars cannot be fully removed until students move their vehicles. Because many cars remain in the same spot for long periods of time, some areas may stay snow-covered until the space opens and equipment can access it. In addition, parking lots can become packed down by traffic and freeze quickly. Our team continues plowing and salting until conditions are safe, but students are responsible for clearing out their own vehicles.

After the storm, crews focus on cleanup to reduce refreezing. On sidewalks, snow piles are moved into grassy areas where they can melt. In parking lots, once students move their cars, crews return to open those spaces and remove larger piles of snow. We also widen driving lanes and apply salt and ice melt as needed. This cleanup is ongoing until all snow and ice have been removed or melted.

Our Facilities team works tirelessly — often overnight — to keep our campus safe and accessible. We appreciate your patience and cooperation during winter weather.

If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Mark Graybill, director of buildings and grounds, at mgraybill@messiah.edu.