Winter Control

Although winter weather is often random and unpredictable, City of Barrie snow removal efforts are not. The City of Barrie is committed to providing a high level of snow removal service throughout the winter season. Using a combination of City staff and contractors, plowing, sanding and salting is performed each winter with consideration to safety, environmental and budget concerns.

Snow Removal Information

During winter months, City of Barrie crews will periodically perform snow removal procedures in the downtown area and portions of Allandale to allow access to parking meters and free movement of traffic (both vehicular and pedestrian).

When snow removal operations are underway, the City will temporarily bag the parking meters. This NO PARKING ban applies to all residents. Vehicles that interfere with the removal of snow can be ticketed and towed.

The City of Barrie’s Responsibilities

• 1050 lane km road
• 371 km of sidewalks
• 22 parking lots
• 49 crosswalks
• 64 bus shelters
• 510 bus stops
• Downtown sidewalk intersections

Levels of Service

The City of Barrie has developed carefully planned levels of winter road service to combat the diverse weather conditions we see every winter.

With a system of service based around snow levels and maintenance times (see chart below), we can ensure clean and safe roads are maintained efficiently during winter.

Service	Information
Main Priorities for Roads (Bare Pavement)	5cm: Approximate Level of Snow for Road Crews to be Deployed Cleanup to be completed approximately 6 hours after end of snowfall Maintain road surfaces by keeping them as bare as possible through continual use of all assigned staff, equipment and materials required for the conditions
Secondary Priorities for Roads (Roads Snow Packed)	8cm: Approximate Level of Snow for Road Crews to be Deployed Cleanup to be completed approximately 12 hours after end of snowfall Maintain road surfaces in a snow packed condition during a storm by use of all assigned workers, equipment and materials (i.e. sand, salt etc…)
Main Priorities for Sidewalks	5cm: Approximate Level of Snow for Road Crews to be Deployed Maintain sidewalks in a snow packed condition
Secondary Priorities for Sidewalks	8cm: Approximate Level of Snow for Road Crews to be Deployed Maintain sidewalks in a snow packed condition

Eight contract road plows will maintain priority routes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and the City owned units will be responsible for secondary and residential routes.

Walkways

Pedestrian walkways are not maintained for winter operations.

Bus Stops and Crosswalks

A contractor has been hired to clear snow from all bus stops and crosswalks.

Sidewalks

Sidewalks in the Central Business District (i.e. Dunlop St., Collier St., Mulcaster St. and High St., the intervening streets are cleared by the adjoining property owners as required by City by-law. The remaining sidewalks are cleared by City crews. The City of Barrie anticipates all sidewalks will be plowed at least once within 24 hours.

Tools used in sidewalk snow removal

With sidewalks of various shapes and sizes, we use an entire arsenal of tools for sidewalk maintenance including:

• Rotary brooms
• V-Blade plows
• Blowers

Why use different tools?

Using different tools allows us to safely and properly maintain winter sidewalks in two ways:

1. Help to reduce sod damage caused by sidewalk plows
2. Different tools allow for more extensive maintenance of different sized and shaped sidewalks.

Quick Tip for sidewalk maintenance

Try to keep vehicles parked away from sidewalks so both our road and sidewalks plows can better clean the roads

Super Mailboxes

The City of Barrie does not perform snow removal operations around super mailboxes. Please contact Canada Post for snow removal in this area.

Highways and Off Ramps

Beamish Construction has been contracted to perform winter maintenance on highways and off ramps, including the 400 series north of County Road 89, and 2 lane highways around Barrie (#90, 26 and 27).

Beamish Construction may be contacted at (705) 727- 1359 or (705) 727-1333 or contact the Ministry of Transportation at 1-800-265-5407 for more information.

Your Responsibilities

Winter Parking Restrictions

Overnight parking is not permitted on City of Barrie streets under City of Barrie Winter Maintenance By-law. This ensures the City can completely clear streets of snow and that large emergency vehicles can get down the street.

Your Children’s Safety

Please ensure that your children do not play where snow is piled at the side of the road or in the middle of courts where snowplow operators may not see them.

Winter Walking During winter months, snow and ice make walking very difficult. Here are some suggestions to help keep winter walking safe for everyone: Clear snow and ice away from catch basins and hydrants in front of your property. When clearing snow from parking lots do not push it into adjacent public land. During and immediately after a snowstorm, reduce your driving speed to account for slippery road conditions and snow clearing operations. During thaws, reduce your driving speed to avoid splashing pedestrians and prevent water from splashing onto the sidewalk where it will freeze into ice and become a hazard. Please do not park any vehicles over the sidewalk. Even a partially blocked sidewalk prevents the plows from doing their job properly. Please ensure that any structures are placed well back of the property line.

Don’t forget to remove your parked car from the street during snow removal operations. Parked cars make plowing difficult and sometimes impossible. With your help, winter maintenance crews can plow faster and more efficiently and you will reduce the chances of having to dig your car out of a snow bank.

Driveways

Piling snow to the right side of the driveway can help reduce the amount of snow pushed back into the driveway. Standing in the driveway and looking at the street determines the right side.

Clearing Snow on Your Property

The City devotes a great deal of resources to keep your streets and sidewalks clear of snow and ice after. Residents often deposit snow and ice from their property onto the street or sidewalk not realizing that this contravenes municipal regulations, contributes to unsafe driving and walking conditions and increases the cost of providing winter road maintenance.

When you are clearing snow from your driveway, please keep this snow on your property. Your efforts in helping us make winter driving and walking safe for everyone are appreciated. (See City By-law)

Damage to Sod

Sidewalk plowing presents many challenges. It is difficult to tell exactly where the edge of the sidewalk is and when the ground is not frozen some sod damage may occur. Damage to City sod, pavement and City owned trees will be repaired in the spring. Call the Road & Transportation Division at (705) 739-4255 when you notice the damage and your address will be added to a list for repair when materials are available.

To facilitate the removal of snow from sidewalks and to prevent damage to private property, residents are required not to place cars, fences, posts, hedges, shrubs, driveway curbs or other obstructions on the road allowance. The City will not be responsible for damage to items placed on City property by property owners.

Snow Plowing

A combination of City owned trucks and contracted units provide effective snow plowing services to Barrie roads through the priority and secondary route system we have created.

This system assigns priority to all major roads with the highest traffic in the city. To ensure the safety of drivers and pedestrians, these major routes are serviced on a 24/7 basis when necessary. A similar process applies to our secondary routes. Secondary routes, which are all residential streets in the city, are attended to regularly, but less often than priority routes.

Vehicles

The City of Barrie’s winter service vehicles are fully equipped to handle the most severe winter weather. The fleet is available on a 24/7 basis, ready to keep Barrie’s roads clean and safe around the clock.

Snow Plows

• 15 owned by the City of Barrie
• 11 Contracted

Sanders and Underbody Plows

• 12 owned by the City of Barrie with 2 spare units
• 1 contracted

Sidewalk Plows

• 6 owned by the City of Barrie
• 10 contracted