Snow Banks - At all times, please ensure children do not play in snow banks along the roadways or sidewalks.

Tunnels - Children like to tunnel, make forts and slides in the roadside snow banks.  This is a dangerous situation and we ask all parents to ensure their children are not in any areas where the plows could be working.

Snow plow operators plowing the streets or sidewalks are unaware if children are playing in snow banks. 

Children can be fascinated by large equipment and machines, but please make sure they are supervised and at a safe distance/location from snow clearing operations while they work.

 Parked cars slow down the clearing operations and delay our response to other streets.  Keep your vehicles off the road during a snow event and 48 hours after the storm event for cleanup operations.

Plows will not continue further if the plow operator cannot safely maneuver between cars parked on the street (especially cars parked across from each other on the street).  The operator will leave that area and attempt to return to this area when he has completed the remainder of his route - but this may not be until the next day.

"Stagger" the parking if you must park on the street and a vehicle is already parked directly across from where you want to park.  Plow might be able to maneuver between the cars and continue to plow the street.

 Our priority is to continue plowing streets to ensure that all residents' streets have at least one plowing during an event and resources are not available to return during a storm to clear snow left behind due to parked cars.

If the plow has already been on your street and plowed around parked cars, there will be a mound of snow left around the parked vehicles.  Once those parked cars have left, the plow will return to clear the snow left behind, but this will not be during the snow event and may not occur until the next day or more.

 There will always be varying amounts of road snow that is deposited by the plow into driveway openings which cannot be avoided each time the plow clears the streets.

Snow plows clear streets from the center of the street to the curb - sometimes leaving snow across private driveways.  Unfortunately this cannot be efficiently prevented.

The City will not clean out snow that has been deposited by our plows into driveways.  We suggest if you have a medical/physical condition that prevents you from clearing the snow from your driveway, that you contact family, neighbours, or contractors that may be able to assist with the snow removal.

When you shovel your driveway at the road edge, place the snow at the 'downstream' side of the driveway; i.e.: put the piled snow where plow will take the snow away - not where the plow will 'drag/push' the piled snow back into your driveway or in the center of the road.

 After a significant snowstorm and the initial snow plowing and sanding has been completed, the City will need to remove snow that is piled along the road edge/curb that is causing the road surface to 'narrow'.  The snow remaining on the road requires the plows to go through the streets and push it back.  The may cause some snow to be deposited back into your driveways.

This operation also assists in exposing the road drainage catch basins, which need to be open to handle melting snow or rainstorms to reduce the freezing on the road.

You can assist in getting water off the street by exposing catch basins that may be along the curb in front of your home.

 All snow plow routes have a start and end location.  Your street may be at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of a snow plow priority route list which may be up to 12 hours to complete after the storm stops.  Many residents call upset because the plow hasn't arrived, but depending on the street, they may not be scheduled to be plowed until the end of the route.

To deal with heavy snowfall, cul-de-sac clearing is performed in two steps:  

1. the snow plow will clear the cul-de-sac to open up the roadway, 
2. after it has stopped snowing the City will come back to clean up and/or remove the snow when snow storage has been exhausted.

 A large snow plow is not able to maneuver effectively within a cul-de-sac and is best used on the straighter roadways.

If you live on a cul-de-sac, dead end court or at a 90 degree bend in the road, you may find that the plow will come through and clear the central lanes and leave the area.  Our typical operation is for a different type of machine to follow-up later to clean the street more thoroughly.

There could be a significant lag time before this machine arrives to finish plowing.  This process allows us to 'free up' the main plows to continue clearing snow efficiently, rather than spend too much time at one location.

 Placing snow or ice on a roadway is a violation under the Highway Traffic Act.

Please do not shovel, push, snow plow, or deposit snow onto the roadway, shoulders or sidewalks.  This hampers our operations, may cause snowy or slippery conditions for pedestrians or vehicles and delay our clean up by requiring our equipment return to clear areas that were previously cleared.  It also creates a hazard for other motorists, especially when winter conditions make visibility difficult.

 Call "911" for emergencies during a winter storm that requires Fire, Police or Ambulance whether or not your street has been cleared.  If Emergency Response agencies have difficulty accessing a street, the Emergency responder will contact the City staff directly and we respond immediately.

We receive many calls from residents needing the road cleared because they have to get to work or school, doctor appointment, have a medical condition, etc. and want the road opened immediately.  We cannot respond to these requests as 'all' City staff and equipment are working in their designated routes and we cannot effectively or efficiently reschedule them to other locations.

Winter storm events may require residents to reschedule appointments.

 Many residents have a 'rough' idea as to when the plow generally arrives on their street after the start of a storm.  If you have not seen a plow and it is well past the usual time that a plow would generally be around and you think your street may have been missed, please call the Public Works Department and information will be forwarded to staff.  Operators are very good at completing their plow routes in a regular routine; however, alterations may occur due to equipment breakdown, delays due to parked cars obstructing our progress or plows having to bypass areas that can't be safely maneuvered and end up redirected to other streets where they can get through safely.

There may be a possibility that your street is missed, but staff tries their best and sometimes human mistakes are made.  This generally occurs when equipment breaks down and another truck that is unfamiliar with the route has to plow the streets.  If we become aware that a street has been missed, then staff will make arrangements to have the street plowed at the earliest opportunity.

Depending on the storm event, it can take 9 to 12 hours (or more) after the storm finishes for the plows to get to all the streets on their route.  We do not provide information nor will we identify when the plow will reach a particular street.  When dealing with a snow event, all our resources are involved in the snow removal.

 The City will replace a mailbox and/or post, if there is obvious physical evidence on the mailbox/post that is was struck by the plow.

The City is not responsible for mailboxes or posts that may have been knocked down or bent from the snow coming off the plow.

Protect you mailbox by keeping the area around your mailbox clear of snow.  Most times when mailboxes get damaged, it's because plowed snow accumulates in front of it, causing increased weight and pressure against it over the course of the winter.  If your mailbox has been damaged, please contact the Public Works Department so we can arrange an inspection and a course of action.

While technically it is the responsibility of municipalities to keep fire hydrants clear of ice and snow, that isn't always possible. 

You can assist in keeping the hydrant cleared close to your property.  For those that hire a contractor to clear your driveway, ask them to not put snow around the hydrant. This will greatly assist fire department personnel if they need to access during an emergency.  Every second counts when the fire department is trying to access a hydrant for a water source to fight a fire.

 How can residents help?

 Residents can assist the City in the winter by doing a few things to assist in snow clearing operations:

• Avoid parking on city streets to allow plows to do their work.
• When shoveling snow from your sidewalk or driveway, don't throw it on the street or onto public sidewalks.  Pile snow on your property.
• Place Blue Boxes and garbage containers on a cleared area at the end of your driveway or near the curb.  Do not place containers on top of snowbanks, on sidewalks or roads.
• Be mindful of your neighbours.  Do not pile snow so the City plow will push it away from your entrance and fill in your neighbor's entrance.