Road Construction on Kennedy Road, Ravenshoe Road and Woodbine Avenue

Heavy machinery is required for the removal of existing asphalt as well as paving. Residents may experience a higher level of construction noise from these machines during construction hours.

In addition, construction crews may be wearing additional personal protective equipment while removing asphalt, such as respirators and disposable overalls.
 

As a precaution, the Region’s contractor will take the following steps:

• Wet mill the asphalt pavement containing asbestos prior to removal
• Use dust collecting devices with HEPA filters on equipment, when possible, to prevent dust from becoming airborne
• Monitor area air quality if required
• Road construction crews may wear additional personal protective equipment, such as disposable coveralls and respirators
• Transport and dispose of asphalt containing asbestos to a site licensed for the acceptance and disposal of asbestos waste
   

Not every road is tested for asbestos prior to construction. York Region maintains a list of roads suspected to contain asbestos. Once road projects have been identified for the year, the list of projects are compared to the list of roads suspected to have asbestos. If there is a match, testing will occur to determine if asbestos is present in the pavement and how much.

Asbestos was not completely banned from use in asphalt in Canada until recently. In 2018, the Canadian government announced a new regulation that banned the manufacture, use, import and export of asbestos and asbestos-containing products, including asphalt products that contain asbestos. The regulation came into effect on December 30, 2018 and prohibits the use of asbestos in all new construction projects across the country.

Prior to the 2018 regulation, Canada had banned some uses of asbestos, including sprayed asbestos materials, in the early 1980s. However, the use of other asbestos-containing products, such as asphalt and vinyl floor tiles, continued until the complete ban was implemented in 2018.

It's worth noting that although asbestos-containing asphalt products have been banned in Canada, there may still be existing infrastructure that contains them. In these cases, proper precautions and safety measures should be taken to prevent exposure to asbestos fibers.