Winter Maintenance

The Regional Municipality of York reminds residents that the Region's Winter Maintenance program is staffed and equipped at full capacity, with road crews available to remove snow and to salt as required to keep roads clear.

York Region's Transportation and Works department is responsible for the maintenance of approximately 1,050 kilometres of arterial roadways, including snow removal, sanding and salting.

As part of an $11.5 million Winter Maintenance program, York Region has also adopted:

The use of a salt-brine solution sprayed on the roads before snowfalls to help prevent roads from icing and preventing snow and ice from bonding to the pavement, making it easier to remove

A "bare pavement" policy to clear roads to a bare pavement condition as soon as reasonably possible following storm conditions

A Road Weather Information System (RWIS), consisting of six weather stations in key parts of the Region to update temperature, pavement condition, salt concentration and precipitation

A Global Positioning System (GPS) to monitor road coverage by vehicles and track the application rate of both salt and sand

A Salt Management Plan, that includes drive-through salt and sand storage sheds to reduce the amount of these materials exposed to the environment

Computerized spreader controls on vehicles to more precisely spread both sand and salt

York Region has an $11.5 million Winter Maintenance program, with $2.5 million budgeted for salt alone. Below are some other figures associated with the program:

Number of vehicles for winter maintenance

64

Average time for salt or sand spreading (one round of all Regional roads)

90 minutes

Average time for plowing and salting/sanding (one round of all Regional roads)

130 minutes

Average amount of salt used (one round)

340 tonnes

Kilometres of Regional Roads

1,049 km

Lane kilometres of Regional Roads

3,479 km

Cost of salt per tonne

$70.59

Cost of salt (one round)

$24,000

Cost of salt-brine (one round)

$11,500

Cost of one round of salting (includes equipment and labour)

$43,000

Cost of one round of plowing (includes one round of salting, equip. & labour)

$44,500

York Region's Roads Transportation Branch encourages everyone to take extra care during winter driving conditions and to help road clearing efforts by slowing down and driving cautiously around winter maintenance vehicles.

If you have questions about York Region's Winter Maintenance Program, please contact the Roads Dispatch at 1-877-464-9675 ext. 5200.

Salt-brine truck

A salt-brine spreader truck at work

Infrared sensors

Infrared pavement temperature sensor on truck

GPS

GPS information for the driver

Pavement temperature displays on truck

Safety messages and helpful tips from York Region Snow Plow operators:

When shovelling snow, please deposit it to the side of your driveway. Pushing show onto the roadway creates a hazard for vehicles and pedestrians, and returns to your driveway when the plow goes by. (Fact: Shovelling snow onto roadways violates the Highway Traffic Act, and can result in fines).

When clearing snow from your driveway, clear to the side that the plow reaches last. This will help reduce the amount of snow left behind at the end of the driveway after the plow passes by.

York Region vehicle operators
Members of York Region's Road Operations

When driving around snow plows, please remember:
- Don't pass on the right of the plow. The driver can't see you, and the plow blade extends out from the right of the vehicle, making it easy to hit.
- Leave plenty of space behind the plow. They can only plow at 40 km/h and often swerve or brake to avoid objects on the side of the road, making them easy to hit from behind by people following too closely.
- Snow plows need to operate slowly to properly clear roads. Plow operators are trying to clear the roads for the safety of everyone. They want to get home to their families too. Don't cut in front of the plow for the sake of saving a few seconds on your commute.
- Operating a snow plow is difficult enough under clear conditions, much less blustery Canadian winter weather. Help snow plow operators keep our roads safe by letting them do their jobs as quickly as possible.

Save-a-Life program:

Together with York Regional Police Services and York Region Health Services, the Transportation Branch plays an integral role in the York Region Save-a-Life Program.

Save-a-Life encourages safe driving habits through engineering safer roads, educating drivers about safe driving, and police enforcement. For more information, please visit www.yorkregionsavealife.com