Vaughan is ‘spring cleaning’

Seasonal maintenance operations are underway with litter collection, street sweeping, pothole repairs and more!

With the arrival of warmer weather, the City of Vaughan’s dedicated Public Works crews have begun their annual spring maintenance and cleanup efforts around the community. They are working hard to keep Vaughan’s public spaces beautiful for your enjoyment this spring and summer.

Here is an update on their operations:

Litter cleanup

The City’s spring-cleaning blitz began in March after the winter thaw with crews collecting litter from Vaughan’s parks and open spaces such as paths and trails. MadVac – the City’s litter collection vacuum – will be making a return this year to City sidewalks to collect litter and debris. 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.

Shrubs, flowers and more

Shrub bed planting and maintenance (pruning, mulching, weeding, litter cleanup and watering) will take place regularly throughout the season. ​A total of 750 hanging baskets and 900 planters will be installed across the city, beginning on Monday, May 29 – through to mid-June. ​

Street sweeping and road maintenance

The City's street-sweeping program begins in April each year and takes approximately eight to 10 weeks to complete one rotation across the city, depending on the weather. Street sweeping will continue throughout the summer and into the fall. The City performs street sweeping across approximately 11,000 kilometres of roads annually. This process prevents unwanted materials from flowing into stormwater drains, river pollution, sewer backups and road flooding.

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 86,182 kilograms (190,000 pounds) of litter and illegal dumping have already been removed so far this year from City boulevards and right-of-way.

Potholes

Throughout the year, staff perform routine patrols across the City’s 2,200 lane-kilometres to help keep Vaughan’s roads in a state of good repair. To date, City crews have repaired approximately 1,116 potholes. The City also inspects more than 1,200 lane-kilometres of sidewalks annually for any defects and will schedule repairs – this work is ongoing throughout the spring and summer months.

You can report potholes or cracked or damaged asphalt to Service Vaughan at 905-832-2281, service@vaughan.ca or online through vaughan.ca/ServiceVaughan.

Grass-cutting

Biweekly turf-cutting will begin the last week of April and continue throughout the spring and summer seasons for a total of 13 rotations, each running for two weeks.

Park trails and walkways

Over the next few months, some park trails and walkways will be temporarily closed as crews work to repair damaged asphalt and concrete surfaces. For a full list of areas undergoing improvements, visit vaughan.ca/seasonal.

Trees

Regular tree maintenance is operating at full capacity​. A total of 400 trees have been pruned so far this year. Any hazards that need to be removed, such as fallen branches, are responded to in a priority sequence.

Stormwater, water and wastewater services

The City maintains more than 150 stormwater ponds in the community. The City’s annual stormwater management pond maintenance program begins in May and wraps up by October each year to ensure the ground and bank slopes have stabilized to support this work. During this seasonal maintenance, three rounds of litter cleanup and grass cutting will be completed at each pond. Litter is collected in all non-aquatic areas prior to grass cutting, which will take place along the perimeter of the pond block. Crews completing this work move through the City from east to west on a block-by-block basis during each round of maintenance.

The City removes sediment and debris from the bottom of catch basins in industrial areas annually and in residential areas on a three-year rotation starting in April. Wastewater and stormwater sewers are inspected on a 10-year rotation, and wastewater sewers are cleaned on a three-year rotation.

In addition, the City will soon begin its annual inspections of fire hydrants and continue to perform flushing and swabbing of watermains to keep pipes clean and clear. Staff attend water shut-off and on requests year-round, as needed.

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:

• Curb, sidewalk or interlock repair
• New pavement markings
• Park, playground or splashpad
• Road and boulevard maintenance
• 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 spring cleaning operations, visit vaughan.ca/seasonal.

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