The Institute of Meteorology and Water Management has issued warnings against icing, which are valid in the following voivodeships: Pomorskie, in the west of the voivodeship. Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in the east the province West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in the north of Greater Poland and the Voivodeship Lubuskie. In these areas, wet road surfaces and sidewalks are expected to freeze in places after sleet and wet snowfall. The minimum temperature will be from minus 4 degrees C to minus 2 degrees C, and the temperature at the ground will be around minus 4 degrees C.
As soon as heavy snowfalls appear in Poland, and with them problems with getting to work, school or even shopping on foot or by car, the question arises who is responsible for clearing snow from sidewalks and roads. The responsibility for maintaining public roads (including snow removal) rests with managers. They are different entities, depending on the category of a given road. In practice this means that:
- the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) is responsible for national roads,
- for provincial roads – the boards of individual voivodeships, which most often create special institutions for this purpose – provincial road boards;
- for district roads – district boards (individual districts may also establish separate units for this purpose – district road boards);
- commune heads, mayors and city presidents are responsible for municipal roads (in this case, special road authorities are also established, especially in large cities, e.g. Municipal Roads Authority in Warsaw, Roads Authority of the City of Krakow, Roads and Bridges Authority in Lublin),
- Internal roads are the responsibility of the manager of the area where the road is located or the owner of the area.
The exception to this rule are sections of national roads located on the borders of cities with poviat rights – the authorities of these cities are responsible for their maintenance.
Read also: “Possible power outages.” IMWM and RCB warn
Who has to clear the sidewalks?
The situation is completely different in the case of sidewalks. Their duty snow removal is the responsibility of property owners located along these sidewalks. In this case we are also dealing with exceptions. In the first case: the owner is not obliged to clear snow from the sidewalk where paid parking or parking is permitted. The second exception relates to situations where when the sidewalk is located along the property but is separated from it by a green belt owned by another entity. This entity (usually the commune or the State Treasury) is then responsible for snow removal.
As the website Gospodarka.dziennik.pl reminds, Owners of properties with sidewalks that are required to clear snow should rememberfor failure to fulfill this obligation may be subject to a fine of up to PLN 1,500 or a reprimand.
Failure to clear snow from sidewalks or roads may result in injury, fracture or accident. To whom should a claim for compensation be submitted in such a situation? As the website Gospodarka.dziennik.pl explains, However, the entity to which you should turn is not the owner of the property, but the commune (comet, mayor or city president).
On what basis? This is because although the obligation to maintain the sidewalk in proper condition rests with the property owner, supervision over the implementation of this obligation is carried out by the commune head, mayor or city president.. For this reason, the commune is liable for damage caused by unplowed or icy sidewalks, as the commune has apparently inadequately fulfilled its obligation to supervise property owners.
