As we enter the 2024-2025 winter season, we would like to remind all stakeholders of the importance of keeping municipal roadways clear of obstacles to ensure safe and efficient snow removal. While the abundant snowfall attracts residents and guests to our slopes, it can present challenges for road maintenance crews, particularly when vehicles and other items block access to the roads.
Effective this winter season, Northwoods Road Maintenance has been contracted to provide snow clearing services for municipal roadways. In order to facilitate timely and thorough snow removal, we kindly request the cooperation of all property owners, developers, and construction contractors in addressing any issues related to snow clearing within the municipality’s right-of-way.
Unobstructed roadways are critical to maintaining access for emergency vehicles, such as fire trucks, and to reducing hazards, especially on steeper sections of the road. Therefore, we ask that all vehicles, equipment, building materials, and other items be removed from the municipal right-of-way no later than October 31 each year. Failure to do so may result in the Municipality removing these items at the owner’s expense.
Additionally, we request that all vehicles be parked at least 6 feet from the road edge to allow proper snow clearing. Please ensure that snow is not pushed into the roadway or across the street. Snow must be stored on your property to avoid obstructing the road. Please also keep any snow removed from your drive or pathways on your own property, as chunks of snow pushed off properties and onto the road are a safety hazard.
We appreciate that the road plowing can cause a berm (windrow) at the entrance to driveways, and this is part of the reason we try to have our road plowing contractors out early so that the berms created are not excessive and do not create too much extra work for property owners. However, windrows are inevitable after a snowfall. With the number of driveways within the municipality and limited resources, it would be very costly to add additional people and equipment to either clear windrows, or not leave them in the first place. It is the responsibility of homeowners to clear the windrow at the end of their driveway. Our snow removal is performed by a contractor with their own equipment. We have limited available contractors who have limited/do-not-have equipment to minimize windrows. During snowfall, our Public Works crews are out clearing certain smaller areas that the snow removal contractor does not. This is done specifically because it is cheaper to utilize municipal crews rather than contractors. This means that there is very limited availability of Public Works crews to perform windrow maintenance/clearing along the roads. You can reduce your windrow size and help out our snow plow operators with the following tips:
Pile snow on the right side of your driveway (facing the road) when shovelling. This allows you to see any oncoming traffic as you back out and, when our plows go by, they won't drag your shovelled piles of snow back into your driveway.
- Shovel snow onto your property, as opposed to the roadway. If there is less snow piled on the road or curbside, there will be less snow pushed into a windrow.
The Municipality appreciates your cooperation in this matter, and we remind you that failure to comply with these requirements may result in fines under the Parking and Traffic Bylaw No. 0009.