Maintenance of the roads of national importance during the winter
In winter, all road users must pay attention to changing weather conditions and precipitation, which have a direct impact on the driving conditions. At the same time, most drivers probably notice that some roads are cleaned and sprinkled with sand or salt more often, while other roads are sprinkled less often. There are also roads which are not sprinkled at all with anti-slip substances, only excess snow is cleared.
The roads of national importance are maintained in accordance with the normative requirements. Since it is not possible to remove snow at the same time from all roads being maintained and to sprinkle them with anti-slip substances, winter maintenance work is divided into 5 different maintenance levels according to traffic volume and importance of the roads. Roads with the highest traffic volume, which connect the largest cities or settlements, are cleaned and sprinkled first. Then, roads of decreasing traffic volume are maintained in priority order.
Maintenance level 1. Road maintenance services are on duty around-the-clock on these roads. During the snow fall, the services clean the roads, and when a black ice has formed or in the event of freezing rain, they sprinkle the roads with sand or salt at any time of the day. The road must be cleaned and sprinkled with sand or salt not later than 2 working hours after snowing and/or snow blowing has stopped. In uncomplicated weather conditions, there must be no snow on the surface of the road. During snow fall and/or snow blowing, the thickness of snow on the carriageway cannot exceed 4 cm.
The first level of maintenance applies to the following roads: A1 Vilnius–Kaunas–Klaipėda; Via Baltica; A19 Vilnius Southern Bypass; A2 Vilnius–Panevėžys; and the section of A16 road Vilnius–Prienai–Marijampolė from Vilnius to Trakai.
Maintenance level 2. This level of maintenance applies to majority of the highways and to the most intense national roads. Road maintenance services are on duty on these roads, clean snow and sprinkle the roads with anti-sleep substances from 4:00 AM to 10:00 PM. These roads must be cleaned and sprinkled with sand or salt not later than 3 working hours after snowing has stopped. In uncomplicated weather conditions, there must be no snow on the surface of the road. During snow fall and/or snow blowing, the thickness of snow on the carriageway cannot exceed 7 cm. In the morning, when the surface of the road is slippery, these roads must be sprinkled for the first time until 7:00 AM. In particularly complicated meteorological conditions, traffic may be interrupted for no longer than 4 hours.
Maintenance level 3 applies to some national roads and the most intense regional roads are. Given the reasonable expectations of road users, the decision was made this year to take better care in winter of the roads that are subject to maintenance level 3, that is, it has been stipulated that when uncomplicated weather conditions prevail on the roads (when there is no snow blowing or snow fall), the snow and ice cover will be fully removed from the road surface. Road maintenance services are on duty on these roads, clean snow and sprinkle the roads with anti-sleep substances from 4:00 AM to 7:00 PM. These roads must be cleaned and sprinkled with sand or salt not later than 4 working hours after snowing has stopped. In uncomplicated weather conditions, there can be a layer of snow up to 3 cm thick on the road surface (except for the wheel track) in random places. During snow fall and/or snow blowing, the thickness of snow on the carriageway cannot exceed 10 cm. In the morning, when the surface of the road is slippery, these roads must be sprinkled for the first time until 8:00 AM. In particularly complicated meteorological conditions, traffic may be interrupted for no longer than 8 hours.
Maintenance level 4 applies to the national and regional roads with a traffic volume of less than 1000 cars per day. Road maintenance services are on duty on these roads, clean snow and sprinkle the roads with anti-sleep substances from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM. These roads must be cleaned and sprinkled with sand or salt not later than 6 working hours after snowing has stopped. In uncomplicated weather conditions, there can be no more than 3 cm of snow on the road surface. During snow fall and/or snow blowing, the thickness of snow on the carriageway cannot exceed 10 cm. In the morning, when the surface of the road is slippery, these roads must be sprinkled for the first time until 12:00 PM. In particularly complicated meteorological conditions, traffic may be interrupted for no longer than 10 hours.
Maintenance level 5 must ensure a minimum level of traffic quality and road usability. This level of maintenance applies to most of the regional roads of national importance. Work on these roads is done from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Dangerous sections of the roads, which are subject to maintenance level 5, such as steep up-hills, slopes, curves of small radius, are sprinkled with sand or salt or measures for roughening compressed snow and/or ice are applied when ice or a layer of frozen compressed snow forms on the surface of the road, and on other road sections – only when the road surface is extremely slippery, that is, in the event of freezing rain and/or after a layer of wet ice has formed on the road surface. In uncomplicated weather conditions, the permissible thickness of loose snow must not exceed 10 cm. During snow fall and/or snow blowing, the thickness of snow on the carriageway cannot exceed 15 cm. In particularly complicated meteorological conditions, traffic may be interrupted for no longer than 24 hours.
The established quality requirements for the levels of maintenance do not apply only in particularly difficult weather conditions. This means that, in particularly complicated conditions, the roads may not meet the requirements, that are mandatory for the maintenance levels, for example, during snow fall and/or snow blowing, the thickness of snow on the carriageway of the roads, which are subject to maintenance level 1, cannot exceed 4 cm. And in particularly complicated conditions, the established quality requirements do not apply to the maintenance levels, that is, there can be a thicker layer of snow on the roads.
No sprinkling is done when the effect of the road sprinkling substances deteriorates the condition of the surface (for example, during heavy snow blowing and/or snow fall, when the snow sticks, etc.).
Information on the road maintenance levels is also presented on the interactive map, which is publicly available on the website www.eismoinfo.lt. Information about the state of the roads and traffic conditions on the roads of national importance is also published on the said website. Drivers can also obtain and provide information about traffic conditions after calling the short telephone number 1871 or the free telephone number +370 5 232 9600 of the Information Department (operates 24/7).
The SE Lithuanian Road Administration and AB Kelių priežiūra, which is responsible for maintenance of the roads, is only responsible for the state of the roads of national importance in the countryside, district centres and in smaller cities and towns. Maintenance of the streets and local roads in the said residential areas is the responsibility of municipalities. Maintenance of all streets in Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Marijampolė, Alytus, Palanga and Druskininkai cities, as well as maintenance of the streets on which the roads of national importance pass through these cities is the responsibility of the municipalities. There are 21 thousand kilometres of the roads of national importance in Lithuania.