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# Keep it Clear
The Town is committed to providing safe passage for residents, visitors and businesses and ensuring roadways are passable for emergency response vehicles.
The health and safety of our community is of utmost importance - Keep it Clear is a proactive approach to community safety during the winter season.
* The Town will declare a Keep It Clear event when snow accumulations are predicted. Parking on #LincolnON streets is prohibited during this time. This restriction shall include all parking lay-bys.
* Vehicles on the road cause a major obstruction and hazard to Operation Crews who are working around the clock to clear the roads. In addition, it creates access concerns for emergency services vehicles.
* The Town will aim to notify residents of a Keep it Clear event by the end of business day prior. At times, less notice may be given when weather patterns change, and more snow accumulates than originally forecast.
* Notification will be provided on when Keep It Clear events are declared and when they are ended via Lincoln.ca, the Town of Lincoln's social media channels and e-newsletter. Local media will also be alerted to ensure widespread awareness.
* During a snow event, Parking will be prohibited for up to 72 hours on any municipal street where parking is normally permitted. Any vehicle that is found to be parked on the municipal streets during a snow event which has or may impede the snow clearing operations, will be subject to parking enforcement with a set fine of $75.00 and the vehicle may be subject to towing.
* Town staff attempt to have all roads cleared within 72 hours.
To find out when "Keep it Clear" is in effect, **subscribe to our news feeds** or follow **@TownofLincolnON** on Facebook or Instagram.
## For comments or concerns:
**Winter operations:** Call 905-563-2799 ext. 234 or send us an email. Please note that during a storm we are busy responding to & clearing snow. Please leave a message and we'll call you back after the storm.
If you wish to make a complaint about a vehicle(s) parking on the street during a snow storm, please complete our Online Complain Form.
## Frequently Asked Questions
## Road Snow Clearing Related Questions
* + Crews cannot come back to your driveway to clear it out as they are working to clear the entire Town. What happens is the "wing" blade on the plow will push the snow into open areas when the plows pass. Unfortunately, if you have cleared your driveway, this has created the perfect open space for this.
+ Some tips for preventing this from happening in the future would be to wait to clear the snow at the end of your driveway until you know the plow has come by. We also recommend that you clear the snow to the right as you go down the driveway so that it is not pushed back in during future passes.
* + The Town primarily uses a blend of sand and salt on our roads.
+ The Town is also using brine solution for anti-icing on several primary roads, bridge overpasses and hills in Town.
+ The Town is piloting using a straight salt application on hills this year.
* + It is challenging for a large snowplow truck operator to maneuver in a cul-de-sac to clear all of the snow from around its centre island area.
+ The Town first clears a path around the cul-de-sac with a snowplow to allow access to residents and EMS/Fire services. Later, as part of our clean-up operations, the Town comes back with equipment (backhoes & loaders) to complete a total clearing of the cul-de-sac area, typically piling the excess snow in the middle for storage purposes.
+ After a significant amount of snow accumulates within these areas, a front-end loader or backhoe loader and dump trucks remove the excess snow. This is scheduled based on necessity.
* + Cul-de-sacs are initially plowed as part of the Town's secondary road operations, and then the Town returns later to complete a full clean-up of the cul-de-sac area.
* + The Town of Lincoln's road network is vast geographically, making it challenging for winter operations. For example, weather conditions below the escarpment can differ considerably from those above the escarpment.
+ During an active snow event, it can take many hours to attend to all of the roads in Lincoln, so we ask for your patience and understanding - especially with high winds and accumulation.
+ Please know that we are out there, maintaining the roads as best as we can.
+ The Town crews start to plow primary roads first. Once these roads have been plowed, the drivers will move to secondary roads.
* + We are sorry to hear this has happened and apologize for the inconvenience. Please know that we will replace your mailbox. If this happens, please notify the Town of Lincoln immediately. A temporary mailbox will be provided if staff cannot replace it right away - for instance, during a snowstorm, or if a completely new post needs to be installed. A permanent replacement will be scheduled in early spring.
+ Please note: unfortunately, the Town does not replace custom mailboxes with the same but will replace the damaged one with a new metal rural-type mailbox.
* + When a large storm hits, we have all trucks and licensed/trained drivers out on routes clearing snow. After a certain amount of hours, we need to send the crews home to get some much-needed and well-deserved sleep. The crews will be back out early the following morning to continue clearing the roads.
* + If large puddles form from the snow melting, the catch basin may be blocked. We will do our best to come around and clean blocked catch basins, but we always appreciate a helping hand when residents assist with clearing debris from the catch basins.
## Sidewalk Snow Clearing Related Questions
* + The Town uses salt on our sidewalks and multiuse trails.
* + The Town endeavors to be as responsible as possible in balancing the usage the of salt when considering environmental impacts with ensuring that we are maintaining a safe walking surface for pedestrians. The Town has attempted to use alternative materials in the past but unfortunately found that significant icing was still occurring.
* + Town staff patrol sidewalks, trails, main crosswalks and pedestrian crossing locations that we clear. When the crews have finished their initial crosswalk and pedestrian crossing areas, they will return to areas we are aware of needing clearing. If this area is on our routes, we will come back and clear the area.
* + The Town is responsible for clearing the sidewalk portion. Canada Post is responsible for clearing any additional area between the sidewalk and the mailbox.
* + The sidewalks are addressed based on snow or ice conditions. It is possible that while equipment has passed through there may be snow packed areas that are still passable as required by Ontario Regulations. Staff will complete patrols of the sidewalks and hard surface trails to ensure that sidewalks are cleared to Town levels of service and Ontario Regulation levels. For the Town of Lincoln Levels of service please refer to our Winter Sidewalk Maintenance Web page.
* + The Town is meeting levels of service and requirements set out by the Province, which aligns with industry best practices. You can visit: https://www.lincoln.ca/services/roads-transportation/snow-ice-removal/winter-sidewalk-maintenance to learn more about our clearing depths and response times.
* + Sod damage can happen when clearing snow from the road or sidewalks. This is even more likely in areas of narrow sidewalks, overgrown sodding and during periods in which the ground is not frozen (i.e. early in the season and after major thaws). Town staff patrol after events and at the end of the winter season to log any sod damage. When sod is available in late spring, the Town and our contractor will return to repair any damage.
* + The Town and our contractor install wooden stakes within the right-of-way to identify any potential hazards that may be difficult to see when covered in snow. These stakes protect any landscaping or hard features that may be within the right-of-way and could be damaged during winter operations. These stakes will remain in place from November through to mid-April and will be installed annually.
## Parking By-Law Related Questions
* + It is understood and acknowledged that there are situations where homeowners have more vehicles than they can accommodate with the parking space available on their property. The Town reviews opportunities for enhanced parking provision through projects such as the visioning and master planning exercises for main corridors such as Ontario Street in Beamsville and the Victoria and King corridors in Vineland. However, each property has allocated vehicle parking (where possible) on a driveway, garage or laneway by the zoning By-law.
+ We suggest speaking with a neighbour and determining if you can use space in their driveway during a heavy snowfall; if you have a garage, consider clearing it out to use it. We recognize that this isn't always convenient, but we ask everyone to pay it forward and not park vehicles on the road. Any vehicles over what was allocated by the zoning By-law is then the responsibility of the individual vehicle/ homeowner to locate and utilize permissible parking.
+ Parking with an overhang on the sidewalk is not permitted and will result in enforcement. Parking over the sidewalk prevents the Town from clearing the snow from sidewalks and also creates a potentially unsafe environment for pedestrians using the sidewalks.
* + Notification of a pending snowfall event, as has been the practice for the previous years, will be provided on Town of Lincoln website and Town social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Additionally, local news and weather stations and news outlets provide regular updates on weather conditions for all members of various communities.
+ Generally, if the forecast indicates an accumulation of 7-10 cm or more, it is likely that the Town will announce that a "Keep it Clear" is in effect, and parking will not be allowed on any Town Roads.
* + The parking provision related to snow clearing is in effect when a Keep it Clear event is predicted via weather conditions and remains in effect for 72 hours, or when the Town announces that the event is over.
* + Yes, the parking provision applies to all municipal streets with the Town.
* + The process to challenge an issued parking offence notice can be reviewed either on the rear portion of the offence notice or by visiting the Town of Lincoln website under municipal law enforcement/ parking ticket payment.
* + The set fine for this provision, per offence, is $75.00. Additionally, habitual or continued breaches in the provision may result in a vehicle being removed at the owner's expense. The Town hopes to continue to work with all community members to engage and educate regarding this provision in order to avoid the tow authorities being utilized.