The blade gathers roadway snow
Snow accumulates along the angled plow blade as the truck moves forward through the street.
Naperville Winter Guide
You cleared the driveway. Then the plow came.
It is one of the most frustrating parts of a Naperville snowstorm: the driveway is finally open, the municipal plow passes, and a dense ridge of snow suddenly appears across the entrance again.
That pile is a normal consequence of street plowing. Here is why it happens, why the snow can be so difficult to move, and how to handle it without pushing the problem back into the street.
01 Why it happens
The plow has nowhere else to send the snow.
Municipal snowplows do not lift snow off the road. They push it toward the outside edge of the pavement.
As the plow moves down a Naperville street, snow rolls along the face of the blade and is displaced toward the curb or parkway.
A driveway creates an opening in that roadside snow-storage area. When the plow crosses the opening, the moving snow does not simply stop. Some of it is carried across the driveway entrance before being deposited.
The result is the familiar ridge at the end of the driveway — often called a windrow, driveway-apron pile or street-end pile.
That can happen even if you cleared the driveway only minutes earlier. It is not a second snowfall. It is roadway snow being moved as part of the street-plowing operation.
The driveway apron
The problem happens right where private property meets the street.
The driveway apron is the street-end portion of the driveway that connects the private drive to the public roadway.
In Naperville, the apron is also part of the physical transition between the driveway and the public right-of-way.
Because the municipal plow is clearing the roadway rather than the driveway, this transition point is where public snow-removal work and private snow cleanup most visibly collide.
The street can be successfully plowed while the driveway entrance becomes more difficult to use.
Why it feels different
This is often the hardest snow on the property.
The ridge created by a street plow can be dramatically heavier than the snow you just removed from the driveway.
Fresh snowfall may still be relatively loose. The material at the street end has been pushed, compressed and mixed together by the plow.
It may include wetter snow from the roadway, chunks of previously compacted snow and heavier material from the travel lane.
If temperatures change after the plow passes, that ridge can become even more difficult as compressed snow begins to freeze together.
Timing matters
A fresh windrow is usually easier to move than one that has been allowed to sit, compact and refreeze for several hours.
What the plow is doing
Think about the direction of the snow.
The problem makes more sense when you picture snow continuously moving along the plow blade rather than disappearing as the truck passes.
Snow moves toward the roadway edge
The blade directs the accumulated material outward toward the curb and parkway.
The plow reaches your driveway opening
There is suddenly no curb or roadside snowbank immediately beside the roadway.
The moving snow crosses the apron
Part of the accumulated snow is deposited across the entrance before the plow continues down the street.
Naperville guidance
Do not put the snow back into the street.
The pile may have come from the roadway, but Naperville specifically tells residents not to shovel driveway snow back into the road.
Current City guidance says driveway snow should be shoveled into the parkway, not the street.
Pushing or throwing snow into the roadway can create hazardous conditions for drivers and can simply send the material back into the path of the next snowplow.
The City identifies placing snow and ice into the street as a code violation.
View Naperville's official winter guidance Clearing the entrance
Move snow away from the roadway, not back into it.
When clearing the street end of the driveway, the objective is to reopen the entrance without creating a new obstruction for roadway traffic or the next plow pass.
Better
Parkway / property-side storage
Move driveway snow out of the travel lane and into an appropriate area on the property or parkway.
Avoid
Throwing snow into the street
Snow placed in the roadway creates a hazard and can be pushed back toward the driveway again.
Cul-de-sacs
Less space makes snow placement harder.
Cul-de-sacs can make driveway-apron snow especially frustrating because the plow has fewer places to put a large amount of accumulated snow.
Naperville's plowing priority places cul-de-sacs after main traffic routes and residential side streets.
Once crews arrive, turning and maneuvering within the circular roadway can be more complicated than making a straight pass down a typical neighborhood street.
Snow also has to be placed without unnecessarily blocking driveways, mailboxes, hydrants or other roadside features.
The geometry of the street itself therefore makes snow management different from a standard through street.
A practical strategy
Plan for the plow pass, not just the snowfall.
If municipal plowing has not yet reached your street, there may still be another round of driveway work coming.
Clear what you need for access
During an active storm, you may need to open the driveway before municipal plowing is complete. Just recognize that the street-end area may need attention again.
Watch the street operation
Naperville provides an interactive snow-removal map that can help residents see which City streets have been salted or plowed.
Recheck the apron afterward
Once the street plow passes, inspect the driveway entrance before the compacted ridge has more time to freeze.
Private driveway service
If someone else is plowing your driveway, ask about the apron.
“Driveway snow removal” does not automatically tell you how a contractor handles a municipal plow pile.
The timing matters. A driveway may be cleared before the City plow arrives and then become partially blocked again later.
If this is important to you, ask whether the service scope includes the driveway apron, street-end windrows or return visits after municipal plowing.
Those details should be established in the actual service agreement rather than assumed.
The underlying issue
One location. Two different responsibilities.
Municipal plowing
Naperville Public Works clears City-maintained streets according to its municipal snow-removal priorities.
Driveway cleanup
The property owner remains responsible for clearing the private driveway and managing snow deposited at the driveway entrance.
Driveway-apron FAQ
The snow pile at the end of the driveway.
The exact shape and amount of the windrow varies from storm to storm, but the basic reason it forms is the same.
Why does the snowplow leave a pile at the end of my driveway?
Street plows push snow toward the outside edge of the roadway. When the plow passes a driveway opening, some of that moving snow can be deposited across the driveway apron, creating a ridge or windrow even if the driveway was already cleared.
Is Naperville supposed to clear the snow left at my driveway?
The City plows public roadways. Snow deposited at the driveway entrance is generally part of the private-property cleanup homeowners must manage after the municipal plow passes.
Can I shovel the driveway pile back into the street?
No. Naperville instructs residents to shovel driveway snow into the parkway rather than the roadway. Placing snow or ice into the street creates unsafe conditions and is a code violation.
Why is the snow at the end of the driveway so much heavier?
The material pushed by a street plow is often wetter, denser and more compacted than freshly fallen snow. It can also contain previously plowed roadway snow, making the ridge harder to move.
Why are cul-de-sacs especially difficult after snow?
Cul-de-sacs have limited space for plows to maneuver and fewer places to store snow. Naperville also places cul-de-sacs later in its priority system after main routes and residential side streets.
Can driveway snow-removal service include the apron?
It can, depending on the service agreement. If the street-end pile is important to you, confirm whether the driveway apron and return visits after municipal plowing are included in the service scope.
Official guidance
City of Naperville snow and ice removal
Municipal winter procedures can change. Naperville-specific guidance on snow placement and plowing priorities in this article is based on current information published by the City of Naperville.
View the City's Snow Plowing and Salting page Naperville driveways
Need help keeping the driveway open?
Tell us about the driveway, property and type of snow-removal service you're looking for. Exact service scope and availability can then be evaluated for the property.