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Council Policy No.:
CP2021-045 (formerly C 124 EPW 010)
Council Policy Name:
Level of Service Policy - Road Winter Maintenance
Date Approved by Council:
November 16, 2021
Date revision approved by Council:
December 10, 2011, October 27, 2015
Related SOP, Management Directive, Council Policy, Forms
CP2021-046 Level of Service Policy - Sidewalk Winter Maintenance
CP2018-012 Roadway Classification System Policy
Policy Statement and Rationale:
It is the objective of the City of Kawartha Lakes, Public Works Department to apply its operational activities in an efficient and effective way, to provide safe driving conditions consistent with the traffic volume in a predominantly rural road system during those times of the year when winter conditions can be expected. The purpose will be to achieve the Levels of Service as defined herein, and in no case shall the Levels of Service provided be allowed to fall below the Minimum Maintenance Standards provided for in the Municipal Act SO 2001 c. 25, specifically identified within the Minimum Maintenance Standards O. Reg. 239/02, as amended.
Scope:
This policy shall apply to all roads assumed and maintained as public roads by the City of Kawartha Lakes. Notwithstanding the foregoing, neither the Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes nor its officials or employees make any promise, assurance or guarantee that the services provided by the Public Works Department will be in excess of the minimum standard, as required by regulation and detailed herein.
Inherent within the standard is the expectation that drivers will act responsibly and will operate their vehicles, at all times, reasonably with due regard for the prevailing weather and roadway conditions.
Definitions:
"ADT" Average Daily Traffic is a technical measurement of traffic volume on a road, in both directions. Conversion factors, which vary depending on time of year and week, extrapolate daily traffic counts into ADT. O. Reg. 239/02 s. 1 (3) (See seasonal.)
"Ambient Conditions" are conditions that are commonly found in a stabilized environment. Normally in ambient conditions there are no negative effects actively reducing the existing conditions. i.e. Storm, excess traffic or construction effects are not in evidence. (See storm conditions.)
"Aspects" in the context of these standards refer to specific elements of roadway service, which are defined by these standards.
"As Soon As Practicable" shall mean without undue delay.
"Class" in the context of these standards refers to the criteria for classifying roadways as set out in CP2018-012 Roadway Classification System Policy.
"Conditions" define the state in which the subject matter is found. The standard indicates the condition being measured.
"Day" is a calendar day.
"Effect" is the acting of an external influence on the condition of any aspect of the roadway.
"Hardtop" refers to a road surface, which is relatively hard in nature, by treatment with a bonding agent, which effectively prevents reshaping by conventional motor grader.
"Ice" means all kinds of ice, however formed;
"Patrol" is the activity performed by a qualified person, authorized and directed by the Director of Public Works or designates, to investigate and report on the relevant conditions of the roadway. General inspection has regard for road surface and roadside standards. Winter inspection has regard for winter road surface standards.
"Lane" is that portion of the road designated for a single file of vehicles to travel over, in one direction. For roads where two-way traffic is permitted, the lane width is half the road width unless otherwise delineated by pavement marking.
"Localized" conditions, for the purpose of these standards, that occur on short lengths of roadway specifically on bridges, intersections, curves and hills.
"Loosetop" refers to a road surface that is of a granular manufactured product, which can reasonably be shaped by a motor grader, and includes road surfaces under reconstruction.
"Operations" means those activities the Public Works Department performs to improve a condition or sustain a roadway standard. Operations are normally defined by guidelines (not policy), with discretion of the Public Works Department to choose various methods to achieve results cost-effectively.
"Policy(ies)" decisions of a formal nature made by the road authority to enable, qualify and govern the mission of the road authority as directed by-law.
"Priority" an order of the Class of roads to be maintained during a winter event.
"Response" describes the reasonable action taken by the roadway authority when informed or reasonably aware of an effect or condition. A reasonable response considers the relevant standards.
"Right Of Way" (R.O.W.) describes the corridor of land reserved for roadway improvements and under the jurisdiction of the roadway authority. Certain rights of way infer a right of passage to the public. However, in the context of these standards, only rights of way with assumed public roadways are considered. Rights of way solely for non-vehicular traffic are not addressed in these standards (e.g. Pedestrian, equestrian, bicycle.).
"Road" refers specifically to the traveled road surface on a roadway assumed by a roadway authority, but not including on-street parking or stopping zones.
"Roadside" refers to all features that make up the roadway within the jurisdiction of the roadway authority, except for the road surface itself.
"Roadway" in the context of these standards means any public assumed road right of way, intended for vehicular traffic. It refers not only to the traveled road surface, but to all services relevant to the road, within the right of way. In the context of an urban road this includes the traveled portion plus the ancillary lanes. In the case of rural roads this includes the ancillary lanes and the shoulders.
"Roadway Authority" indicates the public agency accountable for the status and condition of the roadway. This refers to the Corporation of the City of Kawartha Lakes and its designated officials or agents.
"Section" refers to a portion of roadway with a distinct classification, and homogeneous character. A roadway section is commonly used for construction costing, inventory control in Maintenance Management Systems, Road Needs Studies, Pavement Management Studies, and Priority Planning and Budgeting.
"Service" can be defined in two contexts. In the larger context any government activity is a service. A roadway network is a service, as is a library, potable water supply, etc. When used in the context of these standards, "service" refers more specifically to aspects of a roadway and their condition. Services are seen from the perspective of the user.
"Shoulder" that maintained surface immediately adjacent to the traveled surface of the road. The shoulder may be partially or fully hardtop, loose top, grassed, or earth. It is not considered a part of the road for these standards.
"Significant Weather Event" means an approaching or occurring weather hazard with the potential to pose a significant danger to users of the highways within a municipality;
"Snow Accumulation" means the natural accumulation of any of the following that, alone or together, covers more than half a lane width of a roadway:
Newly-fallen snow.
Wind-blown snow
Slush
"Snow Packed" conditions refer to winter road conditions where the traveled surface of the road is covered with a buildup of snow and/or ice.
"Standards" quantified statements, defining the nature of a product or activity. Usually such standards are minimum or desirable, and in this context refer specifically to the roadway service standards adopted as policy, by a roadway authority.
"Storm" conditions or effects are when natural or external effects are acting upon the roadway to reduce the condition as defined by one or more roadway service standards. It does not refer to weather conditions that do not impact on the infrastructure. Storm conditions could include wind, rising and/or moving water, precipitation, cold temperatures (below -15C), snowfall, freezing rain, hail, blowing snow, etc.
"Substandard" refers to a condition that is outside the defined standard. Normally a substandard condition requires a response, unless otherwise considered in the standard.
"Supervisor" refers to a person in the Public Works Department who is accountable for the deployment of operations that impact on the condition or roadway services.
"Surface" the exposed top of the traveled road and includes adjacent surfaces for turning or stopping, but not parking or shoulders.
"System" refers to a collection of roadways, typically of various classifications, owned by a single road authority.
"User" refers to any person traveling on or over the roadway, including vehicle operators, passengers and pedestrians.
"Winter" the season when cold weather effects on road conditions can be reasonably expected and as specified herein.
Policy:
Winter Response
This level of service policy covers these activities which are required to produce safe driving conditions for a driver acting responsibly and operating their vehicle, at all times, reasonably with due regard for the prevailing weather and roadway conditions.
An analysis of historical winter operations, indicates that on average the first occasion for which a winter response is required will occur on or about November 15 and the commencement of continuous winter operations will typically occur beyond December 15 of each year. The need for an ongoing response will on average continue to approximately March 15 of each winter season and the last date for which a response is required will be about April 8 of each season. Acknowledging that winter conditions can occur before and after these periods, the City of Kawartha Lakes will prepare the conversion of its resources from summer to winter maintenance mode to meet the following state of readiness
Beginning of Winter50% OperationalOctober 31
Initiate Winter PatrolNovember 1
100% OperationalNovember 15
End of Winter100% OperationalMarch 31
End of Winter PatrolApril 15
50% OperationalApril 15
The winter control resources of the City of Kawartha Lakes consists of single axle and tandem axle combination plow/spreader trucks, graders equipped to plow (if required), and pick-up trucks equipped with plows with sufficient operators for the current number of plow routes. In order to ensure that these resources are employed as efficiently and effectively as possible, the City of Kawartha Lakes adopts a policy of having the resources deployed generally when the needs are required as per the adopted Levels of Service.
An analysis of the variation of traffic over time, based on traffic engineering principles, demonstrates that 85 to 90% of the average daily traffic can be anticipated between the hours of 5 a.m. and 9 p.m. Therefore, the City of Kawartha Lakes will focus its efforts to meet this demand. Outside this period, the City allocates a small amount of resources to act during the evening and night time hours. The function of this partial second shift will be to maintain the high volume arterial roads in a safe and passable condition for emergency response purpose and to address localized substandard conditions that may be observed during their rounds.
A full call out of winter maintenance resources between the hours of 9:00 pm and 4:00 am will not generally be made except where weather and road conditions deteriorate to the state where the travelled road network has compromised the road users' safety. Otherwise, the City of Kawartha Lakes will strive to achieve the objectives of this policy through the use of the evening and nighttime hours as specified above.
Winter maintenance activities covered by this policy include continuous plowing, spot plowing, continuous sanding/salting, spot sanding/salting, ice blading, winging back banks, snow removal, the provision of winter drainage outlets, and road patrolling during normal ambient and storm conditions.
Snow Clearing Level of Service:
The policy for snow clearing is, after becoming aware that snow accumulation on a roadway is greater than the depth set out in Table 1, to deploy resources as soon as practicable to address the snow accumulation. After the storm has ended, response will reduce the snow accumulation to a depth and at a time less than or equal to the values identified in Table 1. In addition, response will establish a minimum lane width of the lesser of three meters for each lane or the actual lane width, or on a Class 4 or Class 5 highway with two lanes, to provide a total width of at least five meters. During storm conditions the objective will be to maintain only the through lanes, as described above, and left hand turn lanes in each direction. Ancillary areas such as right turn lanes, intersection ramps, acceleration/deceleration lanes, shoulders and parking lanes will only be treated after all roads have been addressed.
Once the snow accumulation has ended, and within the time specified after the end of the storm, the objective shall be to return the road to at least the minimum surface condition as shown in Table 1. For Class 1, 2, 3 and 4 roadways, after the storm has ended, clearing operations will clear the snow from the edge of roadway and all ancillary areas. For Class 5 roads with two lanes, if after the snow accumulation has ended, the snow accumulation is greater than the depth set out in Table 1, the objective will be to clear the snow accumulation to a depth less than or equal to the depth set out in Table 1 and to provide a total width of at least five meters.
The maximum allowable accumulation provision of this policy does not apply to that portion of the road designated for parking. Snow removal from parking areas will only be completed after all other areas have been cleared.
Snow clearing is provided for the safe operation of vehicles. Road surfaces and shoulders are not cleared with the intent of accommodating pedestrian movement. Refer to the Level of Service Policy - Sidewalk Winter Maintenance for details on pedestrian infrastructure.
For the purpose of this level of service policy addressing snow accumulation includes:
Plowing the roadway
Salting the roadway
applying abrasive materials to the roadway
applying other chemical or organic agents to the roadway
any combination of the methods described in items (a) to (d)
Table 1 - Snow Accumulation Level of Service:
Minimum Maintenance Standards Classification
Response to Snow Accumulation
Road Class
Maximum
Depth
Response Time
1
N/A
N/A
2
5 cm
6 hours
3
8 cm
12 hours
4
8 cm
16 hours
5
10 cm
24 hours
Ice Blading
Ice blading is completed to reduce ice build-up, increase tire friction as well as aid with abrasive retention. These operations will be completed by the City at the discretion of the Area Supervisor and as time permits once a roadway has significant ice build-up or when snow packed roads ice over.
Icy Roads:
The objective will be to deploy resources as soon as practicable, after becoming aware of the fact that ice may be forming on roadways in accordance with the response times indicated in Table 2. The response will be to treat the roadway or sections thereof with deicing chemicals and/or abrasives as appropriate to remove the ice or provide traction within the timeframes indicated in Table 2 for such response.
Table 2 - Icy Roads Response Level of Service:
Road Class
Response Time
1
N/A
2
4 hours
3
8 hours
4
12 hours
5
16 hours
Winging Back Of Snowbanks:
At various times during a winter season, it may be necessary to wing back snow banks in order to reduce the height of the banks so that driver visibility is not impaired and/or provide space to store additional snow. Typically, this work will be undertaken in rural and urban residential areas.
No objective is established for the necessity to wing back banks for purposes of creating additional snow storage. Such work will be undertaken as and when it is deemed necessary to do so by the Area Supervisor and time is available to undertake such work between winter events and other priority work.
Snow Removal:
Removal and disposal of snow in an approved snow disposal facility is carried out in those areas where inadequate physical space exists to store the snow and/or the presence of snow banks interferes with the movement of pedestrian traffic. Snow will be removed from the central business districts of the City of Kawartha Lakes, at cross walks and other designated built up areas within the City.
The objective will be to deploy resources on roadways after becoming aware that the snowbanks parallel to the roadway exceed the heights specified in Table 3 and Table 4. Respond includes reducing the height of the banks to at or below the heights indicated and within the time frames specified for each classification of roadway.
Table 3 - Snow Removal Level of Service, Central Business Districts and Legal Cross Walks:
Objective to Address
Snow Banks
Snow Bank Height
Road Class
Response Time
Maximum Height (meters)
1
N/A
N/A
2-5
48 hours
0.5
Table 4 - Snow Removal Level of Service, Intersections and Roadside for Other Built Up Areas:
Objective to Address
Snow Banks
Snow Bank Height
Road Class
Response Time
Maximum Height (meters)
1
N/A
N/A
2 - 5
48 hours
0.9
Winter Patrolling:
During the season when a municipality performs winter highway maintenance, the minimum standard for patrolling highways is to patrol highways, that the municipality selects as representative of its highways, as necessary, to check for conditions requiring winter control maintenance. The City of Kawartha Lakes shall provide a winter patrol during the period of the year when continuous winter operations can be anticipated. The purpose of winter patrol will be to monitor weather and roadway conditions to assist in addressing substandard conditions found during the course of patrolling. The objective will be to maintain the roads in passable condition until the regular shift comes on duty at 7:00am or to commence full or partial maintenance operations at 4:00 a.m.
Declaration of a Significant Weather Event
As per Regulation 239/02 of the Municipal Act 2001, an Ontario municipality may declare a significant weather event when a weather hazard is approaching or occurring and has the potential to pose a significant danger to users of the highways in which they have authority over. This declaration suspends the standard timelines required for municipalities to meet their winter maintenance objectives until the municipality declares the significant weather event has ended. In each case, during the course of a declared significant weather event, the standard for addressing winter maintenance is to monitor the weather and to deploy resources to address the issue starting from the time that the municipality deems it appropriate to do so. When the municipality has declared the event has ended, the standard timelines for winter maintenance activities will begin.
The City of Kawartha Lakes may declare a significant weather event when the weather forecast or actual weather condition includes one or more of the following conditions:
Significant snow accumulation during a 24-hour period,
Ice formation that occurs with no warning from the weather forecast,
High winds leading to large snow drifts,
Cold temperature when de-icing operations will not be effective.
The Director of Public Works or designate has the authority to declare a significant weather event. In the event the City of Kawartha Lakes declares a significant weather event the City will notify the public in one or more of the following ways:
By posting a notice on the municipality's website.
By making an announcement on a social media platform, such as Facebook or Twitter.
By sending a press release or similar communication to internet, newspaper, radio or television media.
By notification through the municipality's police service.
By any other notification method required in a by-law of the municipality. O. Reg. 366/18, s. 15.
Winter Drainage:
Throughout the winter season it is common for culverts and/or ditches to freeze and/or become obstructed and hold back upstream water which can then flood the roadway and freeze causing an ice covered surface. The City will deploy resources as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the fact to address winter drainage issues and prevent water from freezing on the roadway.
Windrows Left by Winter Maintenance Operations:
Municipal winter road clearing operations can cause windrows to form at the end of entrances. Operators have limited control over the amount and direction of snow that comes off the plow. The Municipality does not clear entrances and will not alter plow operations to remove windrows under any circumstances.
Revision History:
Proposed Date of Review:
Revision
Date
Description of Changes
Requested By
0.0
November 29, 2005
Initial Release
1
December 10, 2011
Refinement to MMS Standards
2
October 27, 2015
Refinement to reflect service delivery in the field
3
November 16, 2021
Amended to meet MMS and Council directed Level of Service