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
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
How to avoid the trap of becoming 'house poor'
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Toxic forever chemicals in drinking water: Is Canada doing enough?
As the United States sets its first national limits on toxic forever chemicals in drinking water, researchers say Canada is lagging when it comes to regulations.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Some customers steaming after McDonald's ends free hot drink sticker program
It took years for Vinnie Deluca to collect more than 400 cards worth of free McDonald's McCafe coffee, a collection that now has "zero value" after the company discontinued the program.
Biden scores endorsements from Kennedy family, looking to shore up support against Trump and RFK Jr.
U.S. President Joe Biden will accept endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop in Philadelphia on Thursday as he aims to undermine Donald Trump and marginalize the candidacy of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Where did the gold go? Crime expert weighs in on unfolding Pearson airport heist investigation
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When new leaders took over in ancient Maya, they didn't just bury the former royals. They burned their bodies in public
New archeological investigations in Guatemala reveal that the ancient Maya people had a ritual of burning royal human remains as a public display of political regime change.
Party's over: Coyotes play final game as Arizona franchise before move to Salt Lake City
Mullett Arena buzzed like few times in the two years since the Arizona Coyotes moved in, the fans amped for one last desert hurrah.