8 Things All Grand Rapids Residents Need to Know This Winter

Property owners are required to clear all ice and snow from their sidewalks.

The full width of the sidewalk must be cleared within 24 hours of snowfall.

The City of Grand Rapids does not provide snow removal services.

Everyone wants their road cleared (except for snow-day loving kids) but some streets get priority over others. Here's how it works.

The first streets to get cleared are major, high volume streets including Monroe Ave., Leonard St., Fulton St., Burton St. and Division Ave.

When there is more than 3 inches of snow and the major roads are clear, plows may head to other roads, but it still depends on the temperature and weather forecast.

Non-major streets will only get deiced when there is a hill, big curve or another unique reason to do so.

You've just spent a good amount of time clearing snow from your driveway then this happens - a snowplow comes through the neighborhood leaving a mountain of snow at the end of your driveway.

This can't be entirely avoided, but being smart about the way you shovel can be a big time saver.

Here's where you should clear extra snow to avoid more work later on.

Odd/even parking rules are enforced Nov. 1 - April 1 in Grand Rapids.

Park on the even-numbered side of the street on even numbered days and on the odd-numbered side of the street on odd-numbered days from 1am to 6pm.

Violaters of odd/even parking rules face a $20 ticket.

Grand Rapids has over 13,000 fire hydrants system-wide. Volunteers play an important role when it comes to providing visibility and access to hydrants in winter.

Adopt-a-Hydrant volunteers are asked to keep a three-foot clearing on all sides of the hydrant they are taking care of.

Individuals, families and groups may volunteer. They can earn an adoption certificate in addition to 1,000 mygrcitypoints.

Sign up to adopt a hydrant.

Grand Rapids offers free drop-off sites for Christmas trees from Dec. 27 - Feb. 3.

Trees may be dropped off at:

• Riverside Park (north entrance) located at 3151 Monroe Ave NE
• JC Family Park located at 2531 Kalamazoo Ave SE
• Lincoln Park located at 1120 Bridge St NW
• Huff Park located at 2399 Ball Ave NE

Another option is to attach a $2.50 Grand Rapids bulk yard waste tag (purple tag) to the Christmas tree and put it in your garbage collection area on collection day.

Grand Rapids water meters are installed by the Grand Rapids Water System, but it is the property owner’s responsibility to protect the meter from damage.

Keep the space where the meter is located heated so it doesn't freeze. If the meter does become frozen or damaged, you will be charged for the replacement.

For continued service in snowy conditions, clear a path three feet wide from your trash/recycling cart to the street and make sure the cart can be moved freely.

Carts should be shoveled out the night before collection day, but if a heavy snowfall makes it impossible to shovel it out, have the cart out the following collection day.

With Christmas and New Year's Day falling on Sundays, trash pickup will not be delayed this year for the holidays.