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Corporation of the City of Elliot Lake
Transportation Services Policy
Winter Operations
It is herby recognized and adopted by resolution of Council that the City of
Elliot Lake will declare the winter season to be from October 15 of the
current year to April 15 of the following year.
The City of Elliot Lake will administer transportation services with regard to
winter operations through the Public Works Department. The fleet utilized
for winter operations will be serviced and made ready for use in the event of
winter operations no later than October 8 of every year.
Winter Control:
Objective: To reduce the hazards of snow and ice conditions to vehicular
and pedestrian traffic, to provide safe and accessible parking areas in the
Central Commercial Area and all municipal complexes, and to permit the
handling of emergencies by the fire, police and ambulance services.
Inventory: 100 kilometers of roads and laneways
75 kilometers of sidewalks
7 parking lots
Activities:
Patrolling:
Routine patrolling shall be carried out by driving on municipal roadways to
check for conditions described under snow accumulation and icy roadways.
Patrolling will be conducted as per O. Reg. 239/02 and the frequency of such
patrols will be increased as dictated by seasonal conditions. Patrols may be
carried out during the night shift as required during winter operations.
Snow Accumulation:
(a) while snow continues to accumulate resources will be deployed to
clear the snow as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the
fact that the snow accumulation on main roadways (bus routes) is
greater than 6 cm and on secondary roadways is greater than 8 cm.
(b) after snow accumulation has ended and after becoming aware that
the snow accumulation is greater than the depth stated in section (a),
resources will be deployed to clear the snow in accordance with the
following subsections, and all clearing activity with respect to
roadways will be completed within a 12 hour period.
(c) The snow accumulation must be cleared to a depth less than or equal
to the depth set out in section (a).
(d) The snow accumulation must be cleared from the roadway to within
a distance of 0.6m inside the outer edge of the roadway.
(e) Despite section (d), for a Class 4 or Class 5 road with two lanes, the
snow accumulation on the roadway must be cleared to a width of at
least 5 meters.
(f) Sections (a) - (f) do not apply to that portion of the roadway
designated for parking. Sections (a) - (f) only apply during the
period designated by the municipality as the season when the
municipality performs winter road maintenance.
"snow accumulation," means the natural accumulation of new fallen
snow or wind-blown snow that covers more than ½ a lane width of a
roadway.
Icy Roadways:
(a) resources will be deployed to treat icy roadways as soon as
practicable after becoming aware that a roadway is icy and operations
to treat icy roadways shall be completed within 8 hours of the onset of
said operations.
(b) Section (a) only applies during the period designated by the
municipality as the season when the municipality performs winter
road maintenance.
Salting- salting operations are performed to achieve the following results.
To treat areas of the roadway that has been made slippery by
snow or ice.
To form a brine sandwich to prevent the snow or ice from
forming a bond with the road surface.
Note: salt should not be applied continually during a snowfall. Salt should
be applied when the road surface temperature is -7 degrees Celsius or
higher.
Sanding- sanding operations are dictated by the following conditions.
When snowfall remains heavy after initial salting operations.
When temperatures fall below -7 degrees Celsius.
When snow packed conditions prevail.
When conditions cannot be made safe with the application
of salt only.
Snow Removal/ Roads- snow removal activities on cul-de-sacs shall
commence as soon as time permits once plowing, sanding and parking lot
operations are completed. Snow removal from the roads shall occur when
the width of the roadway is reduced to a distance that makes plowing
operations unsafe. Snow removal shall be carried out at intersections where
visibility is restricted by the snow bank producing a traffic hazard. Snow
banks will be removed from streets with sidewalks as the need arises.
Snow Removal/ Parking Lots- snow removal operations shall be carried
out when accumulation reaches 6 centimeters and for safety reasons will
only be carried out once businesses are closed. Plowing and stockpiling of
snow will be conducted from 12:00 midnight to 7:00 am when restricted
parking is in effect. Removal of stockpiled snow should be carried out as
soon as possible to free up parking areas and to minimize the effects of
thawing snow.
Snow Removal/ Drainage- snow removal from ditches will be done each
spring as required to prevent damages that may result from spring flooding.
Miscellaneous Snow Removal- snow removal will take place around fire
hydrants, bus shelters, school crossing zones and school bus loading zones.
Snow Dumps- snow removed from City streets and parking lots will be
hauled to the nearest designated snow dump. Designated snow dumps are
Colwill Drive, Scott Road, Senator Place, Fox Drive, Curling Club,
Mississauga Avenue, Felz Road, and Washington Crescent. When required,
the dumped snow will be pushed to make more dumping space available,
using a rental bulldozer and operator.
Sidewalk Clearing- sidewalk plowing and/or blowing activities will
commence as soon as snow accumulation has reached 6 centimeters.
Sidewalk clearing operations in the Central Commercial Area must be
carried out before or after store hours. When circumstances allow,
residential sidewalks will be cleaned during the scheduled night shift
operations, otherwise daytime clearing of residential sidewalks will occur.
Overtime is not normally incurred for this activity.
Sidewalk Sanding- sidewalk sanding operations will commence whenever
conditions for pedestrian use are unsafe. Sidewalk sanding may occur during
clearing operations or as dictated by conditions of the sidewalk surface. Shift
supervisors monitor sidewalk conditions.
Stairs- best efforts will be made to keep all stairs and landings free from
snow and ice. Central Commercial Area stairways will have priority over
walkway stairs. Overtime is not normally incurred for this activity.
Walkways- walkways will be sanded when conditions for pedestrian traffic
are unsafe. This activity will be carried out once winter operations in
priority areas have been completed. Overtime is not normally incurred for
this activity.