Street maintenance

The city is primarily responsible for street maintenance within zoned areas. We keep Hämeenlinna’s streets safe and accessible year-round by maintaining them according to their maintenance classification.

Street maintenance classes

The city’s streets are divided into three maintenance classes. The classification determines the order in which streets are maintained.

Classification is based on:

• traffic volumes
• public transport routes
• important facilities, such as the hospital and emergency services

The first maintenance class includes the busiest main streets, some collector streets, and pedestrian and cycling routes. It also includes locations that are challenging for traffic, such as hills.

You can check the maintenance classifications on the map, where routes are marked in colors:

• red: Class 1 roadways
• blue: Class 2 roadways
• light blue: Class 3 roadways
• green: pedestrian and cycling routes maintained by the city in winter
• yellow: sidewalks maintained by properties in winter

City and property owner responsibilities

Street maintenance is divided between the city and property owners. Responsibilities are based on the Act on the Maintenance and Cleaning of Streets and Certain Public Areas.

Winter maintenance

In winter, streets are maintained according to their maintenance class.

Plowing begins:

• on weekdays for Class 1 routes when approximately 3 cm of snow has accumulated
• on holidays when approximately 5 cm of snow has accumulated

Plowing is primarily done at night and outside rush hours for work and traffic safety reasons.

Class 1 streets are maintained before the morning rush hour whenever possible. If snowfall continues for an extended period, these streets are maintained continuously, which may delay maintenance of other streets.

Class 2 and Class 3 streets include most collector streets and residential streets.

Slippery conditions are controlled by sanding. Salt is also used on the busiest routes.

Property owner responsibilities in winter

In Hämeenlinna, the city has assumed responsibility for winter maintenance of sidewalks in most zoned areas. Exceptions are the grid plan area, the Keinusaari area, and separately defined industrial areas in the city center, where the responsibility belongs to properties.

As a property owner or holder, you must without exception:

• keep rainwater gutters and ditches open
• maintain the access route leading to the property

Maintenance of the property entrance is always the property’s responsibility.

A sidewalk refers to the part of the street reserved for pedestrians. Bicycle paths and combined pedestrian and bicycle paths are maintained by the city. A bicycle path is always marked with a traffic sign that permits cycling.

In areas where the city is not responsible for sidewalk maintenance, you must perform the following maintenance tasks in addition to those mentioned above:

• keep the sidewalk passable by removing snow and ice
• control slippery conditions
• remove sand used for traction
• remove snow banks accumulated on or beside the sidewalk

Summer maintenance

In summer, the goal of maintenance is to keep street structures and pavement in satisfactory condition as required by traffic needs. This includes, for example, repairing damage.

Property owner responsibilities in summer

If you own a property or act as its holder, you must:

• trim hedges growing onto the street
• remove vegetation from in front of traffic signs and lights
• trim branches extending onto the street
• maintain vegetation and cleanliness in the green strip from the property boundary to a distance of three meters

Property owner cleaning responsibility

The property owner must keep the street area clean from the property boundary to the centerline of the street area, up to a maximum of 15 meters. This includes, for example, removing leaves and litter.

Mailbox on the roadside

Position your mailbox correctly so that plowing does not damage it or bury it in a snowbank. Follow Posti’s guidelines and place the mailbox sufficiently far from the roadway.

Feedback on street maintenance

You can submit feedback about municipal street network routes through the city’s electronic feedback service or by calling the Urban Environment customer service number 03 6212310. Customer service is available on weekdays from 9am-11am, and 12pm-3pm

For maintenance of public areas in the Hauho, Lammi, and Tuulos districts, you can submit feedback through the electronic feedback service or by calling Destia’s customer service number 040 6819023. Destia’s customer service is available on weekdays from 9am-3pm

Further information

Contact information