City preparing for winter snow clearing in Hamilton

HAMILTON, ON – The City of Hamilton is getting ready for its snow clearing operations for the winter season. Our primary focus during and after a storm is to ensure residents are safe.

This morning, members of the media attended a behind-the-scenes look at the winter roads and maintenance programs at the City of Hamilton. This interactive open house provided an opportunity to see first-hand how road operations staff manage snow clearing during the winter season. Media were able to take a ride along snow plow with an operator, learn how crews apply de-icing materials to the roads, and take shots of equipment working outside the salt/sand storage facilities.

“I am so pleased that this event will afford media with the opportunity to see how our hard working staff operates each winter season to keep our roads safe. This interactive open house will show the functions of proper snow clearing and its vital role in our community to ensure the safety of residents.” - Dan McKinnon, General Manager, Public Works   

Quick facts

• Residents should monitor weather, park in their driveway whenever possible, leave extra time for travelling to appointments/work, have an emergency pack in their vehicle.
• All storage buildings are stocked with salt and sand and ready at the beginning of each season. Our average salt usage per year is approximately 65,000 tons.
• The City has 110 in-house plows and 49 contracted plows in our area maintenance contract ready for deployment when needed.
• The City presently has approximately 325 in-house plus contracted staff ready to respond.
• The City currently uses a number of de-icing materials to treat the City’s road network, including Rock Salt, Sand/Salt mixture (pickle mix), Salt Brine and Fusion.
• Plowing activation ranges from 2 to 10 cm depending on the Winter Control Road Priority Rating.
• Removing cars off of the street during a winter storm allows the plows to work more efficiently and will give the City the ability to plow the entire roadway, reduce potential vehicle damages, and provide faster clean-up of the roadway.
• It is an offense under the Highway Traffic Act R.S. O 1990 (section 181) for anyone to deposit snow onto a roadway.
• The City of Hamilton’s Snow and Ice By-law No. 03-296 (PDF, 165 KB) requires property owners and/or occupants to clear snow and ice from sidewalks adjacent to their property and from roofs that overhang the City sidewalk within 24 hours after the end of a snow event.

Winter safety tips

• If a winter storm is in the forecast, motorists should park their car off the street wherever possible – clearing roads is safer and faster if there are no parked cars along the street.
• Residents should ensure fire hydrants on or near their property are clear of snow.
• Residents should not shovel their snow into the roadway.
• Residents have 24 hours to clear sidewalks adjacent to their property.

“Each winter season, our road operations staff works diligently to ensure that our streets are clear and safe for residents. Our priority is to clear the roads as quickly and effectively as possible so residents can travel to wherever they need to go.” - Bob Paul, Manager of Roads and Maintenance

Additional resources

• Priority Road Clearing
• Residents Responsibility for Clearing Snow and Ice