City’s Winter Crews Ready to Keep Mississauga Safe

November 5, 2020

While winter officially starts in December, winter weather never waits. The City’s winter crews are once again ready to respond to snowfall and help keep Mississauga safe this winter.

“While this has certainly been a challenging year, Mississauga will continue to remain resilient as winter weather nears,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “As essential workers, our incredible winter crews will be ready to respond 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure that our roads, priority sidewalks, bike lanes, bus stops and more are safe and accessible for all those who travel to and from their destination – to keep Mississauga moving. I urge everyone to be patient and safe by giving our plows lots of space, driving to weather conditions and leaving a bit earlier when possible.”

Winter crews, along with 370 snow clearing equipment (e.g., salters, plows, loaders) will be ready to clear:

• 5,600 lane kilometres of roads and on-street bike lanes (4,000 priority and 1,600 local)
• 1,600 lane kilometres of priority sidewalks
• 3,400 bus stops
• 95 kilometres of roadside multi-use trails
• Over 1,000 pedestrian crossings

“Safety will continue to be a priority this winter,” said Mickey Frost, Director, Works Operations and Maintenance. “We will ensure that our priority routes such as major roads, on-street bike lanes, priority sidewalks, bus stops, pedestrian crossings and designated roadside multi-use trails are cleared first to maintain accessibility and allow emergency and transit vehicles to travel. As a reminder, residential roads and priority sidewalks are not cleared to bare pavement, but are made passable and safe. As our crews clear residential roads, we also remind residents to please move parked vehicles off the street to allow plows to safely clear the street.”

Levels of Service

Significant Weather Event

During severe winter events, the City may declare a Significant Weather Event under the Ontario Municipal Act (Regulation 239/02). This allows the City’s works operations more time to deploy winter equipment to address a significant winter storm. Service level timing starts after the declaration is lifted instead of when the snow stops.

Winter On-Street Parking Restrictions

Temporary parking permits can be suspended at any time during snow clearing operations and new ones will not be issued. On-street parking restrictions between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. remain in effect year-round. Vehicles parked on City streets will be enforced according to the Traffic By-law and will be issued a penalty notice and be subject to towing at the owner’s expense.

Responsible Salt Use

Salt trucks are equipped with on-board technology to monitor and control salt use. Access to an advanced weather monitoring system also allows winter crews to use the appropriate amount of salt in the right place and time.

Residents can help by following manufacturer instructions, if salting on their property, by applying the right amount under the right conditions. Reporting of over-salting at bus stops can be done through the Pingstreet mobile app.

Additional Safety Tips

• Clear walkways and driveways as soon as possible after a snowfall and offer to help older adults and people with disabilities to do the same.
• Be patient – drive according to weather conditions and give snow plows and salt trucks lots of space as they clear the roads.
• Be aware of your surroundings as a driver, pedestrian or cyclist.
• Do not approach winter crews or snow clearing equipment at any time.
• Consider wearing appropriate footwear and installing winter tires.
• Ensure pets are brought indoors during extreme weather conditions.

Stay up-to-date on our snow clearing efforts:

• Visit ca/snow to learn more about snow clearing in the city.
• Follow @MississaugaSnow on Twitter for snow clearing updates.
• Call 311 (905-615-4311 if outside city limits) to find out if winter on-street parking restrictions are in effect or to report a missed street after the level of service timelines have expired.