Brine, salt or plow?
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Learn about the various methods used to remove snow from City streets
Winter weather is here in Vaughan and City staff continue to work around the clock to keep everyone safe. Depending on the forecast, various methods are used to remove snow, including brining, salting and plowing.
Brining
Brine is a liquid made of rock salt and water. It is sprayed on the road surface in anticipation of freezing temperatures to prevent the formation of black ice or in advance of a winter snow event. The liquid brine works immediately as a barrier, so precipitation doesn't stick to the road and slippery conditions are avoided. If there is no precipitation, the salt brine can stay active on the road for several days.
Salting
As soon as snow or ice begins to accumulate, salting crews are out on the City’s main roads. The City's goal is to complete a first round of salting on main roads within four hours, including residential roads, and narrower streets like the laneways found behind townhomes within 12 hours.
Plowing
Once five centimetres (two inches) of snow have accumulated on the ground, snowplows begin to service the streets. During a snowfall, the City is focused on getting the City’s main roads cleared first so emergency and transit vehicles get where they need to go. Main roads, which are travelled more frequently, are plowed within four hours after snowfall has ended.
Windrows
The City provides windrow-clearing service to all residential driveways in Vaughan. Windrow machines clear a portion of the driveway entrance, so a car can drive through, within four hours after the plow has passed. The service does not clear windrows left by sidewalk plows and does not clear hardened snow, ice or the entire driveway.
Residents have a role to play
The City takes care of the heavy lifting by making sure the 2,000 kilometres of roads and 1,000 kilometres of sidewalks are plowed and salted. To ensure operations can be carried out, residents are asked to do their part, too.
On-street parking
Crews cannot effectively clear roads and laneways with cars parked on them. Streets that are not plowed are often a result of parked cars blocking the snowplows. It is important that cars are kept off the street while snowplows are clearing the roads. This allows crews to safely carry out plowing operations and ensures the City can get the entire street cleared. Residents are reminded that on-street parking is not permitted between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. in Vaughan. As outlined in the City’s Parking By-law (PDF), on-street parking in a way that interferes with the movement of traffic or snow-clearing operations is also prohibited. Vehicles found in violation may be subject to a fine of $75.
Shovelling
When shovelling a
laneway, remember to not dump snow from the driveway or sidewalk onto the
public roadway. It is illegal to shovel snow or ice onto the road. To learn
more, read the Ontario
Highway Traffic Act – section 181.
For more information on the City’s snow operations, or to sign up for snow alerts, visit vaughan.ca/snow.
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