Delivering quality services year-round

Sept. 24, 2021 10:00 a.m.
​Highlights of Public Works’ 2021 summer and fall maintenance program


Parks, forests, streets and rivers – these are just some of the elements that make Vaughan a beautiful place to live, work and play. The City of Vaughan continues to provide quality services year-round to enhance and maintain all these areas throughout the community by keeping them safe and clean.

Here are some highlights of the 2021 summer maintenance operations and upcoming fall services:

Parks and forestry

The City is responsible for maintaining more than 135,000 trees and 195 hectares of woodlots. Throughout the summer beginning in May, the City planted approximately 1,800 trees and inspected approximately 1,700 trees to help ensure they remain healthy. The City also completed a total of 11 grass-cutting rotations in Vaughan parks.

To help control the LDD Moth (Gypsy Moth) population, regular tree maintenance continues to operate at full capacity​ with inspections for LDD Moth egg masses planned for October. Mitigation measures, like egg mass removals, will be performed this upcoming winter and spring.

Horticulture

The City continued efforts to beautify Vaughan in summer 2021 as part of its Beautification Strategy by placing flowers, ornamental grasses, trees and shrubs in beds, planters and hanging baskets. A total of 2,000 perennials were planted, and 240 hanging baskets and 310 flower planters were placed throughout the city. In addition, shrub beds and plant bed maintenance (pruning, mulching, weeding, litter clean up and watering) ran on rotation throughout the summer.

With the change of seasons ahead, the City is starting to replace annual flowers with mums for a pop of fall colour to enhance community gardens.

Roads

To continue to achieve high-quality standards of Vaughan’s road infrastructure, the City has swept more than 4,469 curb kilometres of road, filled 1,278 potholes and performed cleaning and maintenance work on 10,691 square metres of sidewalks throughout the summer months. In addition, a total of seven boulevard grass-cutting rotations were conducted throughout the city and 372.5 tons of garbage were collected to help keep Vaughan clean. As part of the City’s Speed Limit Policy, which sets and adjusts appropriate speed limits throughout the community, 489 signs have been installed in all school zone areas indicating the change to 40 kilometres per hour from 50 kilometres per hour.

Coming up, the City will be continuing street-sweeping across 2,200 kilometres of roads in Vaughan this fall until Nov. 1, weather permitting.

Water

The City is responsible for managing water distribution and wastewater collection services for nearly 341,600 people and more than 19,000 businesses. Throughout the summer months, as part of regularly scheduled maintenance, the City repaired 220 curb boxes, conducted 24 inspections of water booster stations – pumping stations that improve water pressure moving through pipes to supply quality water pressure – and provided regular maintenance services to 2,550 mainline valves in Vaughan. In addition, preventive maintenance was completed at 5,211 hydrants and 2,586 were given a fresh coat of paint.

In the fall, the City will be re-lining a watermain (part of Vaughan’s water supply network) under the Humber River. The City will also be completing regular preventative maintenance, such as watermain flushing and swabbing services, installing five new water valves, repairing multiple auto-flushing units and valves, and adding waterproofing capabilities to select systems. Additionally, there are 15 scheduled repairs and upgrades planned to multiple water pressure-reducing valves, reinforcing the City’s commitment to continuously maintaining Vaughan’s water infrastructure to ensure water continues to flow now and for generations to come.

These efforts and more demonstrate how the City continues to go above and beyond to provide essential services that safeguard and enhance the quality of life in this growing city. They reflect 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.

For more information about City matters, please call Access Vaughan at 905-832-2281 or visit vaughan.ca.

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