Winter Maintenance

A. Keep parked cars off the street so that ploughs can move through the streets more effectively. When a snow storm is in the forecast, you should ensure that you purchase any food, medication, and household supplies that you might need for the next 48 hours. Try to stay off the streets.

A. Streets that are considered to be arterial/priority roads get ploughed first to ensure proper access through the Township for emergency vehicles and access to Provincial Highways for local traffic. 

A. The plough operators cannot control the amount of snow that is pushed off the wing of the plough. The plough moves the snow from the middle to the side of the road, creating a windrow of snow at the edge of the road including the ends of driveways. It is the responsibility of the resident to remove the snow from the end of the driveway, as this is not a service the Township provides.

A. The first house to the right of an intersection usually receives more snow in front of the house and driveway. This is because the snow plough sweeps a much larger area while turning versus traveling in a straight line.

A. It is the Townships goal to have all streets ploughed within 24 hours after the snowfall has concluded. On occasions such as heavy snow squalls or ongoing snow storms, ploughing operations may take longer. In the event of major snow storms, operations will focus on keeping the arterial roads clear for emergency services and to ensure proper access to priority Highways.

A. The plough may be driving with the blade up for a couple reasons. Ploughs will lift their blade while driving to and from their designated routes, on roads that have already been cleared, and on County or Provincial roads. The blade may also be lifted to avoid scraping off recently applied salt and sand from the road surface.

A. At the beginning of the winter during the first few snowfalls, it is hard for sidewalk plough operators to see exactly where the sidewalk is. In these situations it is likely that some sections of sod can be damaged. This may also occur in the later winter months during thawing periods when winter control operations are still needed. If sod has been damaged by the sidewalk machine, you can email or call the Operations Administrative Assistant to create a service request for the sod to be repaired in the spring.