Amiens Métropole launched its 2024-2025 winter viability plan on November 15, 2024, a system put in place for the first time in 2011. This plan deploys considerable human and technical resources to guarantee the safety of roads and sidewalks in the event of falling snow or ice. Since 2015, 16 snow removal blades have been made available to municipalities without dedicated equipment, thus strengthening coverage of the territory.
Snow removal and salting responsibilities
Responsibility for processing the tracks depends on the nature of the tracks.
• Municipal roads: under the responsibility of the mayor, who is the manager and owner of these roads, as well as his traffic police powers.
• Departmental road outside urban areas: under the responsibility of the Departmental Council.
• Departmental road in urban areas: under the responsibility of the mayor, although the Departmental Council intervenes in the continuity of its circuits.
• Path of community interest: under the management of Amiens Métropole.
• Departmental community interest route: the Departmental Council also intervenes in the continuity of its circuits.
Network classification and intervention priorities
The road network is classified into three levels of intervention.
• Main network (N1): including public transport routes, access to emergency points, hospitals, the prefecture, barracks, and the main routes of the Northern Industrial Area.
• Secondary network (N2): includes the roads of the Commercial Activity Zones and the intercommunal connection roads.
• Tertiary network (N3): concerns roads serving residential areas only and is treated during the day, mainly with small salt spreaders.
Specific treatment of BHLS
Special treatment is planned for the High Level Service Bus (BHNS), in particular for the bus depot in Rivery and the electric bus charging sites. Two specific circuits provide preventive treatment from 3:20 a.m. to guarantee optimal operation of the transport network.
Crisis action plans
In the event of a crisis, a specific processing circuit is activated, with priority for network N1 and N2. The means are adapted according to weather conditions, and the alerts go through four levels of severity, ranging from the normal situation (C1) to the extreme situation (C4).
The resources mobilized
• During normal times: 7 15-ton trucks equipped with blades and salt spreaders, 1 backhoe loader, 80 people on shift, and various equipment such as microtractors and sidewalk washers.
• In times of crisis: Up to 200 people can be mobilized to treat traffic lanes, in addition to the use of specialized equipment such as graders.
Quality objectives and response times
Roads must be treated within strict deadlines: six hours for icy roads on the N1 network, eight hours for the N2. For snow, the delay is seven hours on the N1 network and eleven hours on the N2, from the end of the precipitation.
Snow removal from sidewalks£
Snow removal from sidewalks is generally the responsibility of local residents. In Amiens, a decree dating from 1972 requires owners and tenants to guarantee free passage for pedestrians, under penalty of civil or criminal liability in the event of an accident.
The cost of the winter plan
Amiens Métropole devotes around €200,000 per year to this plan, in addition to costs linked to equipment and overtime. Costs for depreciation of equipment and other investments are not included in this budget.
Communication and follow-up
Traffic conditions and measures taken are regularly updated on the amiens.fr website, as well as by local media.
