How We Respond
The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure is responsible for over 5,800 miles of roadways in Davidson County. Of those, the department has over 2,475 miles of roadways listed as snow removal priority routes.
Each street or roadway on our “Snow Removal List” has been classified as a Primary Route, Secondary Route, or a Post-Secondary Route.
The Primary Route is the first priority and will be cleared to a reasonable degree before starting operations on the Secondary Routes. Once the Secondary Routes are cleared to a reasonable degree, we will start operations on the newly identified Post-Secondary Routes.
There shall be no deviation from priority lists without approval from the Director or Superintendent of Operations at the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure.
View the priority primary, secondary, and post-secondary snow routes
Our Process
The prime objective of snow removal in Nashville and Davidson County is to establish reasonable mobility in the Central Business District (CBD) and clear a network of roadways for safe access to the Central Business District, hospitals, emergency routes, and transit routes as quickly as possible.
The goal of the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure is to obtain a "dry pavement" status on every roadway on the department’s priority list. This is a goal and not an objective.
General Guidelines
It shall not be a function of the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure to clear sidewalks, as this is the responsibility of the adjoining property owners per Metro Charter 13.32.040.
Priority routes may be terminated, temporarily interrupted, or postponed due to unpredictable or peculiar weather conditions, emergency situations, safety, and/or shortages of materials, equipment, or funds.
Snowfall accumulations of up to two inches are usually handled (depending on weather conditions) by salting, or combinations of salt and calcium chloride.
Snowplowing operations generally do not begin unless snowfall accumulations measure more than two inches, and/or weather forecasts call for additional accumulations.
During snowplowing operations any vehicles abandoned within the public right-of-way in such a manner to obstruct operations and/or create a hazard will be removed at the expense of the owner.
Plow operators are instructed to plow streets as close as possible to the curb line with a minimum number of passes. Where sidewalks are close to the curb, drivers are instructed to avoid pushing snow onto the sidewalks.
Records will be maintained by the department to document its level of service.
Inclement Weather Resources
- NDOT Customer Service: 615-862-5000 (TTY 615-862-6747)
- Tennessee Road Condition Hotline: 800-342-3258 (State of Tennessee Department of Safety)
- Interstate Roadway Condition Report Online (Tennessee Department of Transportation)
- View Tennessee Department of Transportation SmartWay Traffic Cameras
- Nashville Traffic Accident Reports (Metro Nashville Police Department)