When will the City of Toronto plow my street?
As Toronto navigates significant snowfall, highway closures and hazardous travel conditions, many are wondering when they can expect to see their local roads plowed.
Depending on the number of centimetres of snow accumulated, the city has different projections for the length of time plowing will take.
The city defines a snowfall more than 25 cm as a “Storm Type 4” — an event that only occurs approximately once every ten years.
During this type of storm, waits for plows are at their longest.
On Monday afternoon, Brad Ross, Chief Communications Officer for the City of Toronto, said that ”multiple rounds of plowing across the city has occurred and will continue into tonight and tomorrow.”
Ross said that it can take the city 12 hours to plow all 5,600 km of sidewalks.
EXPRESSWAYS
The roads prioritized first by the City in major snow events are the expressways — the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway — however, Toronto police announced Monday morning that both highways were temporarily closed due to hazardous travel conditions.
Just after noon on Monday, the city announced the Gardiner expressway was completely reopened. By 3 p.m., the Don Valley Parkway had also reopened.
Once reopened, the city says it could be two to three hours until the expressways are plowed.
ARTERIAL/COLLECTOR/TRANSIT ROUTES
For major arterial and collector roads, such as Lake Shore Blvd., Finch Ave. and Queen St., routes with streetcars or buses and roads with hills and bike lanes, the city says it can take 12 to 16 hours to complete plowing when there's more than 25 cm of accumulation.
LOCAL ROADS/CUL-DE-SACS
For all other neighbourhood roads, the city says residents can expect to wait for 24 to more than 36 hours for roads to be plowed. This estimate is longer for cul-de-sacs and dead-end roads.
Residents can expect laneways to be salted at least 24 hours from the end of the snow event, but the city does not provide plowing estimates for laneways.
SNOW REMOVAL
When city streets start accumulating more than 20 cm of snow, the city begins snow removal protocols.
At 20cm, snow removal begins for expressways, arterials routes and bus routes. At 30 cm, snow removal begins for local roads, including cul-de-sacs and dead ends.
Residents can expect the expressways to have snow removed with three days, while all other streets and routes may have to wait up to two weeks, according to the city.
In Toronto, snowfall accumulations of 30 to 60 centimetres of snow are expected by Monday evening.
The City of Toronto says it has 600 snow plows, 300 sidewalk plows, 200 salt trucks and 1,500 personnel ready to tackle winter conditions.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Federal government grants B.C.'s request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces
The federal government is granting British Columbia's request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces, nearly two weeks after the province asked to end its pilot project early over concerns of public drug use.
Testifying in hush money trial, adult film actor Stormy Daniels describes first meeting Trump
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential election 10 years later.
MPs agree Canadian gov't should improve new disability benefit
The federal government needs to safeguard the incoming Canada Disability Benefit from clawbacks and do more to ensure it actually meets the stated aim of lifting people living with disabilities out of poverty, MPs from all parties agree.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Boy Scouts of America changing name for first time in 114 years, aiming for inclusivity
The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America. It's a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Trudeau's handling of Poilievre's 'wacko' House turfing a clear sign of Liberal desperation
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca
Security guard shot, seriously injured outside of Drake's Toronto mansion
A security guard working at Drake’s Bridle Path mansion in Toronto was seriously injured in a shooting outside the residence early Tuesday morning, police said.
Katy Perry's mom was fooled by AI images of the singer at the Met Gala
Katy Perry did not attend the Met Gala on Monday, but some of the singer’s fans – and even her mom – thought she did.