The City is closing the door on winter and ready to welcome spring

April 8, 2022 1:00 p.m.
​An overview of Vaughan’s spring maintenance efforts as winter operations wrap up


Spring maintenance efforts are underway! The City of Vaughan’s Public Works teams provide essential operations to City roadways, sidewalks, parks, trees and more. Here are some highlights of the spring 2022 initiatives undertaken by the Parks, Forestry and Horticulture Operations, and Transportation and Fleet Management Services departments:

Litter

The City’s spring-cleaning blitz began in March with the collection of litter from Vaughan’s parks and open spaces. These efforts will continue alongside weekly park garbage collection and turf-cutting, which occurs biweekly.

Horticulture

Throughout the spring, shrub beds and planting bed maintenance (pruning, mulching, weeding, litter clean-up and watering) will run on a regular rotation. ​A total of 550 annual hanging baskets and 750 planters will appear across the city, beginning on Victoria Day – Monday, May 23 – through to mid-June. ​

Roads

In efforts to keep roads clean and safe, City crews began their annual city-wide street sweeping efforts in March and will continue until the end of May. The City performs street sweeping across approximately 10,000 kilometres of roads annually. This process prevents unwanted materials from flowing into stormwater drains, river pollution, sewer backups and road flooding. Nearly 850 bags of litter and debris have been removed from City boulevards since March.

Throughout the year, staff perform proactive patrols to help keep Vaughan’s roads in a state of good repair. So far, in 2022, City crews have repaired approximately 1,800 potholes. The City also inspects more than 1,000 lane-kilometres of sidewalks annually for any defects and will schedule repairs – this work is ongoing throughout the spring and summer months. Annual grass-cutting is ongoing with a total of 13 rotations, and each rotation will run for two weeks.

Potholes or cracked or damaged asphalt can be reported to Access Vaughan at 905-832-2281 or accessvaughan@vaughan.ca, or online through vaughan.ca/ServiceVaughan.

Forestry

Regular tree maintenance is currently operating at full capacity​. A total of 13,000 trees have been pruned so far in 2022. Any hazards that need to be removed, such as trees or branches, are responded to in a priority sequence.

Spongy moth prevention

To help control the spongy moth population, the City began inspections of more than 2,000 City-owned trees in April throughout heavily infested areas. Staff have effectively removed egg masses from more than 1,100 trees so far this season. To receive up-to-date information on the City’s continued efforts to control the spongy moth population, visit vaughan.ca/SpongyMoth.

Winter operations recap

Citizens receive high-level snow removal services throughout the winter months to help ensure everyone can travel safely despite the weather. The City is responsible for clearing approximately 80,000 windrows, more than 2,000 lane-kilometres of roads and more than 2,000 kilometres of sidewalks.

Here is a recap of the City’s 2021/2022 winter operations:

  • A total of 59 winter maintenance events
  • A total of 44 salting events
  • A total of 9 anti-icing events

For more information on the City’s winter operations, visit vaughan.ca/snow.

These efforts and more demonstrate how Vaughan’s Public Works professionals continue to go above and beyond to provide essential services that safeguard and enhance the quality of life in this growing city. This work reflects many priorities in the 2018-2022 Term of Council Service Excellence Strategic Plan, including Active, Safe and Diverse Communities; Environmental Stewardship; Citizen Experience; and Operational Performance. 

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