Description of State Roads‘ Winter Maintenance Levels.
Level 2 of maintenance operations of main roads is applicable on all the main roads (1.7 thousand km). The roads shall be cleaned from snow, and de-icers spread from 4:00 to 22:00 hours. After the snow or a blizzard stops, roads should be cleaned and de-icers spread within 3 hours. Under normal weather conditions the road pavement should be free of snow. When it snows and/ or there is a blizzard, the snow layer on the carriageway should not exceed 5 cm. When the road pavement is slippery, first de-icers should be spread not later than 7:00 a.m. Under extreme weather conditions the flow of traffic can be interrupted for no longer than 4 hours..
Level 2 of maintenance operations of national roads is applicable on all the national roads (5 thousand km). The maintenance services clean the snow and spread de-icers on these roads from 6:00 to 19:00 hours. After the snow or a blizzard stops, the roads should be cleaned and de-icers spread within 4 hours. Under normal weather conditions the snow layer on the pavement should not exceed 1 cm, and when it snows and/ or there is a blizzard the permitted limit is 7 cm. When the pavement is slippery, first de-icers should be spread until 8:00 a.m. Under extreme weather conditions the flow of traffic can be interrupted for no longer than 8 hours.
Level 3. Regional roads (14.6 thousand km) are maintained according to the Level 3 of maintenance operations of regional roads. The maintenance services work there from 9.00 to 18.00 hours. These roads are only cleaned after all main and national roads have been cleaned. De-icers are spread only on hazardous road sections (steep rises, turns), and only after strong freezing rain or glazed frost. Under normal weather conditions the permitted snow layer should not exceed 8 cm, and when it snows and/ or there is blizzard the layer can be as thick as 20 cm. Under extreme weather conditions the flow of traffic can be interrupted for no longer than 48 hours.
Extreme weather conditions include the following situations:
- More than 6 hours of uninterrupted snow and/or blizzard
- More than 24 hours of snow and/or blizzard with intervals
- Frozen road is covered with ice after rain or freezing rain
- The road has been covered with ice more than twice in 24 hours
- Daytime temperature does not rise above -8°C.
Note: The Lithuanian Road Administration under the Ministry of Transport and Communications and regional enterprises maintaining state roads are responsible solely for the situation on the roads, which are located between cities and towns, in regional centres and smaller towns. All streets, including those running on state roads, located on the territories of the cities and towns of Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Marijampolė, Alytus, Palanga and Druskininkai are maintained by respective municipalities.
