Roads and Sidewalks

The Township of Woolwich is responsible for implementing a winter control program on Township Roads. This mostly includes snowplowing, but frequently also includes salting/sanding. Roads are patrolled daily during the winter months to guide winter control. Our dedicated and hardworking Operations Staff make every effort to ensure the Township Roads are adequately cleaned to provide safe travel to all. 

The Township is obligated to adhere to O.Reg. 239/02 - Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways (MMS) where the Ministry of Transportation has established minimum standards of repairs for deficiencies and timeframes for winter maintenance of roadways. There are six road classifications identified in the regulation with Class 1 roadways garnering the highest level of service and Class 6 roadways the least. Woolwich’s road network is comprised of roadways that fall between Class 3 to Class 6. These roadways interconnect throughout the 9 snow plow routes across the Township.

During some snowfall events, certain roadways may be treated as a priority even though they are within the same classification based on the affect to the larger community. For example, a Class 5 roadway where a school is located would be deemed a priority compared to a Class 5 roadway that only has residential homes on it. 

How quickly Operations Staff is able to address snow clearing is affected by a number of factors including:

• Time of day (i.e. weekend call out versus regular working day);
• Duration of event;
• Amount of snow, when it falls and how fast it comes down (it's a lot easier to deal with 5 cm than 15 cm);
• Weather factors, such as wind contributing to drifting; and
• Equipment breakdowns and staff availability.

If you have any concerns or questions regarding winter maintenance please Report It, contact our Operations Department during normal working hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 519-669-6043 or after hours and weekends contact the Region of Waterloo call centre at 519-575-4400.

Five things to remember during the winter:

1. Caution - when travelling behind a snow plow, please be cautious as they will stop frequently and back up.
2. Windrows - we understand your frustration when you clear your driveway and then a snowplow comes by and leaves a pile of snow - a windrow. Unfortunately, it is impossible to clear snow from the roads without leaving one.
3. Parking - parked cars are a snowplow operator's biggest obstacle. If your street has not been plowed please do not park on it and abide by the Overnight Parking Ban, which is in affect from 4:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. December 1 to March 31.
4. Dumping snow on the roads - do not push, plow or blow snow onto or across roads, it is illegal to deposit snow from your property onto the road.
5. Patience - when plowing operations begin, trucks follow a pre-determined route to minimize duplication and maximize the efficiency of snow clearing operations. Plowing operations can take several hours depending on the amount of snow.

For all Settlements, except Elmira, property owners are required to clear snow from the sidewalks in front of or beside their homes or businesses within 24 hours after the end of a snow fall that results in an accumulation of 38 mm or more.

The sidewalk snow clearing by-law outlines the policy for all properties.

The Township contracts the removal of snow on sidewalks in Elmira according to priority routes and then adds this service to the benefiting property owner's tax bill. In Elmira, the contractor has 24 hours after the end of the snowfall to clear the sidewalks, as such, there can be no guarantee that all priority sidewalk locations will be cleared by 8:30 a.m. Often, a section of sidewalk is believed to have been missed but more snow may have fallen after the sidewalk equipment has been past that area.  It will be addressed the following evening within the 24 hour timeframe.

Similar to Road Clearing, the sidewalk operations follow a pre-determined route to minimize duplication and maximize the efficiency of snow clearing operations. The routes are based on a priority sequence with school zones, downtown core and collector roads being deemed to have the highest priority and receiving maintenance first. 

As with clearing roadways, many variables affect sidewalk snow clearing operations; amount of snow, the type of snow, amount of drifting, how fast it accumulates, how long the snow fall lasts, and equipment breakdowns. These all impact how quickly sidewalk snow clearing can be completed.

Throughout the year there are many construction and roadwork projects underway across the Township.

To find out more about current Township Infrastructure Projects (Bridges, Roads, Water and Sewer), visit our EngageWR page for more details.

The Regional Municipality of Waterloo provides additional information on their web page closures and reconstruction projects.