Spring maintenance continues

Street sweeping, litter collection, grass cutting and more

The City of Vaughan is continuing its spring-cleaning efforts to keep the city’s public spaces safe, clean and beautiful for your enjoyment. Here is an update on our operations:

Street sweeping and road maintenance

The City's street-sweeping program began in April and will continue throughout the summer and into the fall. A full rotation across the city takes approximately eight to 10 weeks to complete, depending on weather conditions. Street sweeping prevents unwanted materials from flowing into stormwater drains, river pollution, sewer backups and road flooding. More than 2,000 kilometres of street sweeping have already been completed this year.

You can support our street-sweeping operators by following these guidelines:

• Do not park vehicles on the road.
• Do not blow or rake leaves or grass clippings onto the roadway.
• Keep waste materials off the road.

You are also encouraged to remove anything that may interfere with or be hazardous to street sweeping operators. This includes landscaping features, such as fencing, basketball nets, decorative stones, pots, bird baths, furniture and more, as stated in the City’s Encroachment By-law 034-2017 (PDF). These items should not be within 30 centimetres of a sidewalk or within one metre of a street curb.

Parks and open spaces
Grass cutting in parks and open spaces is underway and will run a total of 13 rotations in each area. Now that dandelion season is here, some public spaces may appear unkempt as weeds grow faster than grass. For more information, visit the City’s Grass Cutting and Weeds webpage.

Litter cleanup

The City’s spring-cleaning blitz began in March with crews collecting litter from Vaughan’s parks and open spaces such as paths and trails. The City uses Madvac – an innovative litter collection vacuum that targets hard-to-reach areas – to collect litter and debris from boulevards and sidewalks. An additional three machines were added to the roster this season, so look out for Madvac coming to an area near you! This innovation is another way Public Works staff are enhancing and expanding resources to stay on top of litter.  

You can help keep the community clean by following these tips:

• Put waste in its place: while outside, place your waste in the nearest garbage, blue box or green bin. Be sure to use the right one!
• Bag it and bin it: when walking outside with your pets, clean up after them and use the waste bins provided. If the bins are full, take your garbage and pet waste home. It belongs in the green bin at home or waste bins out in the community. As a reminder, you must pick up after your pet. The fine for failing to do so is $200. To report pet waste on public property, contact Service Vaughan at 905-832-2281 or service@vaughan.ca.

Traffic services

Crews are out refreshing road pavement markings (which divide traffic lanes or indicate pedestrian crossings) and installing seasonal flex-posts. To date, more than 170,000 metres of road pavement markings have been repainted. 

Potholes

Since the season began, City crews have repaired more than 1,840 potholes. Throughout the year, staff perform routine patrols across the City’s 2,200 lane-kilometres of roads to help keep them in a good state of repair.

Curb and sidewalk repair

The City’s curb and sidewalk repair program is now underway. The City inspects more than 1,200 kilometres of sidewalks annually for any defects and will schedule repairs, as needed – this work is ongoing throughout the spring and summer months.

Boulevards

The City maintains municipally owned boulevards along roadways that are not in front of or adjacent to private property. Maintenance of boulevards on private property is the landowner's responsibility. Boulevard maintenance includes regular grass cutting and removal of debris and leaves. Approximately 15,250 kilograms (33,620 pounds) of litter and illegal dumping have already been removed so far this year from City boulevards and rights-of-way.

Shrubs, flowers and more

Shrub bed planting and maintenance (pruning, mulching, weeding, litter cleanup and watering) takes place regularly throughout the season. ​Beginning Monday, May 29, a total of 550 hanging baskets and 600 planters will be installed across the city and is anticipated to wrap up by mid-June. ​

Water maintenance
In April, the City began its annual inspection of fire hydrants and continues to flush watermains and cycle valves to keep pipes clean, clear and operational. Staff have inspected nearly 1,400 fire hydrants so far. The City has also attended to water shut-off and turn-on requests, which increase during the spring and summer months. Non-emergency water shut-off and turn-on requests can be made online and must be submitted four to six weeks before the service is required.

Request maintenance service online

Did you know, you can request repair and maintenance services online through Service Vaughan? Through the online portal, you can request maintenance for:

• curbs, sidewalks or interlocks
• new pavement markings
• parks, playgrounds or splashpads
• roads and boulevards
• sports fields, courts or skate parks
• and much more!

Once a ticket has been created, staff will respond to each request in priority sequence.

To learn more about the City’s spring operations, visit vaughan.ca/seasonal.

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