Streets Department

The City of Forest Lake Streets Department is dedicated to maintain and improve the City streets.  The City has 130 lane miles of road (30 miles of gravel) and over 25 miles of trails and sidewalks that require daily maintenance.  Staff also provides maintenance to the City’s 22 parks, Hardwood Creek Trail, and the municipal airport.  The Streets Department performs many duties including:

  • Repair and patch potholes
  • Repair or replace street signs
  • Snow plow streets and trails/sidewalks
  • Sweep streets
  • Catch basin repair and maintenance
  • Right-of –Way maintenance including tree trimming, mowing, and ditch maintenance
  • Playground maintenance
  • Gravel road maintenance
  • Year-round airport maintenance
  • Ice rink maintenance
  • “In house” equipment repair and maintenance

Street Maintenance


The Streets Department is responsible for year-round maintenance of over 130 lane miles of road and 25 miles of trails and sidewalks.  This maintenance not only includes pothole patching and gravel maintenance, but also requires ROW mowing, ditch cleaning, and tree trimming.  The Streets Department prides themselves on the safe travel of City residents, however, are unable to inspect every road every day.  The Public Works Department appreciates resident who contact us with possible hazards that have gone undetected.

Snow Plowing and Removal


The goal of the Public Works Department is to have residential streets plowed within 10 hours after the end of the snow storm with an accumulation of 2” or greater, and snow removal from the downtown area within three days if necessary.    The City is divided into ten separate plow routes that have been designed to be as efficient as possible.  Separate crews are additionally dispatched to remove snow from City owned trails, sidewalks, and ice rinks.   Snowfalls below 2” will result in snow and ice control on priority streets only. 


  1. Public Works Shop