Minneapolis driveways, walkways, and commercial lots — cleared while the city runs its own emergency on the streets.
01 On the river
Hennepin County’s seat occupies both banks of the Upper Mississippi. Census 2020 counted 429,954 people on 54.00 square miles of land — 7,962.1 residents per square mile, the tightest figure on our Twin Cities list.
Thirteen lakes, wetlands, creeks, Saint Anthony Falls, and Minnehaha Falls sit inside that same city. Wikipedia, citing USGS and city sources, describes relatively flat artesian-aquifer terrain: listed elevation 830 feet, a low near 687 feet where Minnehaha Creek meets the river, and a high cited between 967 and 985 feet in Northeast. What that means for a plow is not a mountain grade. It is a packed urban surface — downtown, 83 neighborhoods, alleys, parkways, and commercial corridors — where on-street parking and alley access decide whether a driveway can actually be used after a storm.
We do not invent a Minneapolis snowfall total. The metro climate signal we cite is the 51.2-inch 1991–2020 normal at the Twin Cities airport station (MSP / USW00014922), published by NOAA NCEI and the Minnesota DNR State Climatology Office. December’s MSP normal is 11.4 inches; January is 11.0. That is the airport record, not a lake-by-lake city number.
02 City rules
Public Works declares a snow emergency when it needs the parking lane. Day 1: no parking on snow-emergency routes. Later days: odd/even rules on the rest of the streets. The city publishes the emergency page and the three-day parking rules. Leave a car in the wrong lane and the plow cannot finish the street you live on.
Sidewalks are a separate clock. Ordinance 445.20 requires property owners to clear abutting public sidewalks. Single-family homes and duplexes get 24 hours after snow stops. All other properties get four daytime hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. That is the public walk. The driveway and the private walk to the door are still yours to keep open — or to hand to a crew.
03 What we plow
Plow MN clears residential driveways and walkways and commercial lots in Minneapolis. Seasonal contracts run the winter. Per-plow is for the storm you do not want to wait out. We are licensed and insured. We do not plow public streets, parkways, or the city’s emergency routes — those stay with Public Works. We do the private surface that has to be clear before you leave for work, including alley-loaded lots and commercial properties that cannot wait for the three-day parking sequence to finish.
Call (612) 200-2256 or use the form. If you are in a surrounding neighborhood that is not listed on our city pages, still request a quote.
04 Minneapolis questions
It depends on the building. Ordinance 445.20 gives single-family homes and duplexes 24 hours after the snow stops. Every other property has four daytime hours, counted between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. We clear the private walkways and driveways that sit behind that public sidewalk clock.
Public Works declares it so crews can plow curb to curb, including the parking lane. Day 1 bans parking on snow-emergency routes. Later days switch the rest of the grid to odd/even rules. Read the current three-day parking rules before you leave a car on the street.
Yes, when they are private. Minneapolis is a dense grid of alleys, parkways, and 83 neighborhoods. The city handles public streets once an emergency is on. We handle the driveway, the walk you use to the door, and commercial lots that still have to open while the emergency parking rules are in force.
There is no official city-only snowfall normal on this page. The Twin Cities number we use is 51.2 inches a year at Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport (MSP / NCEI station USW00014922), the 1991–2020 climate normal. Minnesota DNR publishes the same figure. See the DNR Twin Cities normals comparison.
The city sits on both banks of the Upper Mississippi. Terrain is mostly flat artesian-aquifer ground, but the gorge, Saint Anthony Falls, Minnehaha Falls, and higher Northeast ground change how melt and ice sit on a driveway. We plow the surface you own. We do not treat public parkways.
Not once Public Works calls a snow emergency. Crews need that lane to reach the curb. If you have no off-street stall, move the car before Day 1 routes are posted. We can still clear a private driveway while the street rules run their three days.
Also plowing
Sources