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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOES 18-09 Citr oo REPORT TO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE I ERING Report Number: OES 18-09 Date: April 14, 2009 16 From: Everett Buntsma Director, Operations & Emergency Services Subject: Winter Control Operations - File: A-1440 Recommendation: 1. That Report OES 18-09 of the Director, Operations & Emergency Services be received for information. Executive Summary: The City of Pickering's Operations & Emergency Services Department's Municipal Property & Engineering Division is responsible for providing winter control operations (salting, ploughing, sanding and some snow removal) on all City streets and some sidewalks. The current level of service exceeds the minimum maintenance standards set out in Ontario Regulation 239102 made under the Municipal Act. The City provides primarily a snow clearing service and some aspects of snow removal as required when accumulation warrants it. This report provides information on the resources utilized (staff, equipment, contractors and materials) staff procedure to implement winter control, areas of responsibility, programs and typical annual expenditures. The report also describes the relevant parking enforcement policies and the enforcement support provided by the Clerks Division, specifically By-law Enforcement. Financial Implications: There are no financial implications in receiving the report for information purposes. Suggestions within the report that have financial implications will be included in 2009 or future budget proposals. Report OES 18-09 April 14, 2009 Subject: Winter Control Operations Page 2 1I Sustainability Implications: Winter Control Operations is a fundamental service provided by the City of Pickering. Levels of Service impact the social, environmental and economic lenses of sustainability. Background: The City of Pickering maintains approximately 918 lane km of roads of which 686 lane km are paved surface and 232 lane km are granular surface, and provides winter maintenance on approximately 98.6 km of sidewalks. Pickering's roads are predominately two-way roads and winter control operations involve clearing the complete road of snow and ice in both lanes. Each road surface requires a different type of winter maintenance. Staff have prepared a binder entitled "Winter Maintenance Operations Manual" that was distributed to Members of Council in January, 2009. The binder, provides an overview of the City's winter control operations and some of that information is provided below. The binder also contains a section on frequently asked questions by our residents. The City of Pickering provides winter maintenance on roads well in excess of the minimum maintenance standards set out in Ontario Regulation 239102 made under the Municipal Act. There are no minimum maintenance standards for winter maintenance on sidewalks. The 9 urban and 3 rural routes are cleared using a priority routing system. Roads on the priority route typically carry higher volumes of traffic or are transit routes. Roads No.Of Type Catch Storm Sidewalks Routes Basins Sewers Urban - South 9 Paved Yes Yes Yes of Concession 3 2 Unpaved, No, ditches No No Rural - North of granular only Concession 3 base 1 Paved No, ditches No No only Staff Approximately 45 staff is involved in winter control operations. The City requires these employees to participate in standby duty between the months of November and April on a rotating basis, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Typically, there is 15 staff on a standby per week comprised of a Foreperson, and other Lead Hands, HEO I, HEO II, HEO III's, Maintenance Workers and Mechanics. Additional staff not on the present list may be called upon as required during heavy storms. The City also hires up to five Term Labourers for the months of January and February when snowfall is typically the heaviest. CORP0227-07/01 revised Report OES 18-09 April 14, 2009 Subject: Winter Control Operations Page 3 Level of Service Time required Area Application to complete Comments operations Urban - Salting & Ploughing 12-18 hours If snowfall is heavy or South of freezing rain occurs, may be Concession 3 longer Rural - North Ploughing & Sanding 18- 24 hours If snowfall is heavy or of freezing rain occurs, may be Concession 3 longer The City's current level of service is to have all City roads cleared within 24 hours after the accumulation of snow has ended. The difference in levels of service in the above chart is due to the type of operation, the size of the routes, equipment available and the travelling distance involved. Level of service may also be affected because of the hours of service regulations pursuant to the Highway Traffic Act, Regulation 555/06 which states that after a driver has accumulated 13 hours of driving time in a day, the driver shall not drive again on the same day and may not work more than 14 hours in a 24 hour cycle. Staff Procedure Storm alerts come from weather reports, Fire Services Dispatch, Durham Region Police, Region of Durham Works Department or the City of Pickering's after-hours answering service. Once an alert is issued: • on-call Foreperson performs road patrols to assess conditions • on-call Heavy Equipment Operators, Maintenance Workers from the stand by list are called by Foreperson if required • as staff arrive, they are dispatched to assigned routes • salt trucks are sent out first (for paved roads only), once roads have become snow covered (5 cm/2 inches) and is expected to adhere and accumulate • each salt route takes approximately 4-6 hours to complete • grader operators are dispatched to plough two rural routes once snow has accumulated • a decision is made as to whether to plough urban routes - usually after 75 mm/3 inches of snowfall has accumulated • at this point additional staff who are not on the stand by list may be called to supplement the on-call staff • when salt operation is complete, trucks return to the Operations Centre to install ploughs if required, and ploughing commences usually requiring 6 = 9 hours for a light snowfall and 8-12 hours for a heavy snowfall • if necessary, rural roads are sanded after being ploughed CORP0227-07101 revised Report OES 18-09 April 14, 2009 Subject: Winter Control Operations Page 4 19 • gravel roads are sanded for traction. Applying salt would draw out the frost, weakening the road and creating soft spots and pot holes The above procedure occurs during a `normal' event. Each event may warrant an alternate course of action depending on a number of factors including the type of precipitation. Snow Clearing Equipment Description Quantity Purpose Tandem Axle Dump Trucks 3 Road Clearing Single Axle Dump Trucks 8 Road Clearing Graders 2 Road Clearing 1 Road Clearing Loaders 1 Used at the Operations Centre to fill trucks with sand/salt One-ton Dump Trucks 2 Road Clearing - used to supply salt to sidewalk loughs Ton pickup trucks with 4 Road Clearing, Fire Halls plough Snow Blowers 4 Crosswalks and Intersections Trackless 4 Sidewalk Clearing & Salting Holder 1 Sidewalk Clearing & Salting John Deere 4 Sidewalk Clearing & Salting Blower Attachments 2 - Trackless, Sidewalk Clearing 2 John Deere Facility Parking Lots Cleared by Contractor • Pickering Civic Complex - turn circle/parking lot (Esplanade South) • Claremont Community Centre - parking lot • Don Beer Arena - parking lot • East Shore Community Centre - parking lot and driveway, snow must be removed from the property immediately following a snow clearing • Progress Frenchman's Bay East Park - parking lot • Greenwood Community Centre - parking lot • Green River Community Centre • Mount Zion Community Centre • Petticoat Creek Community Centre & Library • Pickering Recreation Complex - turning circle and parking lots • West Shore Community Centre - parking lot CORP0227-07/01 revised Report OES 18-09 April 14, 2009 Subject: Winter Control Operations Page 5 n r) U Facility Parking Lots - Cleared by City Staff • Museum Office • Brougham Community Centre - front entrance & rear stairs • Millennium Square - parking Jot • Centennial Park - parking lot • Brockridge Park - parking lot • Dunmoore Park - parking lot • Fire Hall parking lots • Pickering Recreation Complex - arena overflow lot - upon request • Bay Ridges Kinsman Park/Alex Robertson Park - parking lots, as required Areas Cleared by Others • Durham Region Transit contractors clear bus shelters/stops • Canada Post contractors clear super mailbox areas • most municipal parks and trails such as the Waterfront Trail are not maintained in the winter Windrows Ploughs always leave a windrow, which is the term given to the ridge of snow deposited across the end of a driveway due to road snow clearing operations. Staff make every effort to minimize the deposition of windrows; however, the mandate of City staff is to clear the snow off the street. Pickering does not have the resources to remove the snow that is deposited as a windrow from all driveways. Trucks salt first, then plough, which may occur after residents have already shoveled their driveway, requiring further shoveling to remove the windrows. Depending on the severity of the storm, City staff may have to make a second pass that will again deposit snow in the driveway. The second pass is made to ensure that catch basins are cleared of snow and so that most of the snow is off the road surface to allow for on-street parking. Occasionally windrows flow over the boulevard onto the sidewalk. This occurs where the boulevard is narrow or where the sidewalk has been constructed adjacent to the curb. The City offers a Senior Snow Clearing Program to 300 residences within the urban boundary which provides for the cleaning of windrows, a portion of the driveway apron, sidewalks adjacent to the residence and a pathway to the front entrance. CORP0227-07/01 revised Report OES 18-09 April 14, 2009 Subject: Winter Control Operations Page 6 21 Snow Removal The City of Pickering provides primarily a snow clearing operation on its roads, sidewalks and parking lots through the use of salt application and ploughing techniques. There are requirements for snow removal and the City provides this level of service at the following locations: • sidewalks on bridges • boulevard parking on Liverpool Road south of Wharf Street • sidewalks adjacent to curbs • within cul-de-sacs on courts • when required, at intersections and school crossing locations Snow removal is accomplished by a combination of City staff and equipment, and contracted services. Contracted services are primarily used for removal of snow within cul-de-sacs on courts through the use of larger front end loaders and larger dump trucks. The City is not equipped to remove windrows from driveways or snow from boulevards or adjacent to curbs throughout the City. Although some municipalities and districts within the City of Toronto provide this service, the impact on taxes for Pickering to commence this service would be significant. Although the Greater Toronto Area has experienced approximately three heavy snowfall seasons in the last decade, there is no compelling reason to increase the level of service to provide snow removal, considering an already high level of service for snow clearing operations. Staff estimate that in order to provide a windrow clearing/removal service for the approximately 20,000 driveways in the City, we would require at least one additional piece of equipment (44 pick-up truck, bobcat loader or tractor with plow) for each of the twelve routes as well as the additional staff to operate the equipment. This is similar to Toronto's operation for the districts of North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough. After speaking with staff at the City of Toronto and hearing the concerns they are having with this service, the cost the service was not calculated in detail but would be in excess of $500,000 per winter season to rent the equipment necessary and to hire the additional staff. Winter Control Expenditures Municipalities have a requirement to report costs related to winter control operations on roads through the Municipal Performance Measures Program (MPMP). Although final costs for 2008 are not yet available, the following costs are known for the previous years based on MPMP information for each calendar year. CORP0227-07/01 revised Report OES 18-09 April 14, 2009 Subject: Winter Control Operations Page 7 22 YEAR Number of Winter Material Costs' Winter Control Control Events (saltlsand) Cost (per lane km 2008 47 $870,830 Not et available 2007 53 616,373 $1434.59 2006 22 311,600 579.28 2005 51 484,064 1270.39 2004 60 515,422 1144.21 An event is defined as a requirement for roads to be salted and/or ploughed due to the accumulation of new snow. There is not always a linear correlation between number of events and material costs as some events require multiple salt applications, or salt may be required when there is not a new accumulation (freeze, thaw cycles). Parking Enforcement Municipal Law Enforcement Services provides support to Operations staff during all snow clearing operations requiring plowing. The City's Traffic and Parking By-law contains two provisions specifically related to snow clearing operations. Traffic & Parking By-law 6604/05, section 13(2)(d), stipulates "No person shall stop any vehicle on any highway while salt or sand is being applied to, or when snow is being ploughed or removed from, any highway in the City." This section of the by-law is actively enforced by Municipal Law Enforcement Services Officers only when snow ploughing is taking place; enforcement does not take place during salting and sanding operations. The ploughs do not have to be on the road where tickets are issued at that time. This provision was implemented a number of years ago to encourage vehicle owners to remove their vehicles from the street to facilitate snow clearing operations. The second by-law provision relating to snow clearing is enforced after snow clearing operations have ceased. Section 13(2)(e) states "No person shall stop any vehicle on any highway in such a manner as to interfere with seasonally required road maintenance activities including snow plowing, and or removal, sanding, salting and sweeping." This provision involves ticketing vehicles that remain on the street that have obviously been ploughed in as the road was cleared. In addition to the above, in November of 2008, Council passed an amendment to the Traffic and Parking By-law prohibiting on-street parking from 2 am - 5 am, from December 1 - March 31, to expedite snow clearing operations. This new provision has been enforced since January 5, 2009, following receipt of set fine approval from the Ministry of the Attorney General. CORP0227-07/01 revised Report OES 18-09 April 14, 2009 Subject: Winter Control Operations Page 8 23 Signs are posted at all entrances to the municipality and other strategic locations advising of the parking prohibition during snow clearing operations, as well as the new parking prohibition from 2:00 am - 5:00 am. In addition, notices were issued to all vehicles that were parked on the street in November and early December, 2008 advising of the new parking prohibition as well as the prohibition regarding parking during snow clearing operations. Ads were also placed on the City's community page in the local paper, December 3, 10 & 17, 2008 indicating the same information. Ticket Statistics Regarding Snow Clearing Operations: Infraction Dates Tickets Fines Valued at issued Stopped while salt/sand or snow Jan 1 - Dec 31, 2008 2,486 $94,468 clearing underway Jan 1 - Feb. 5, 2009 692 $26,296 Parked between 2:00 - 5:00 am Jan 1 - Mar 26, 2009 2,525 $95,950 Stopped and interfere with highway cleaning Jan 1 - Feb 5, 2009 18 $684 Relevant Parking Enforcement Policies: The standard for enforcement of all streets for vehicles parked in excess of 3 hours overnight is generally once per month. Enforcement of the 2 am - 5 am parking prohibition from December 1 - March 31, takes place on all City streets in the urban area approximately bi-weekly. The standard for enforcement of all streets for vehicles parked across the sidewalk takes place during daytime and early evening hours. Vehicles parked across the sidewalk from 11 pm to 7 am are not ticketed. This policy was adopted to encourage vehicle owners to remove their vehicles from the street overnight, thus increasing the effectiveness of winter control operations during that time period. Boulevard parking is enforced for vehicles parked on the grass portion of the boulevard or that block sightlines at intersections. Vehicles parked across the apron (boulevard) portion of the driveway overnight will generally not be ticketed. Any vehicles found to be snowbound on the street (not moving on a daily basis) are issued tow notices requiring removal within 24 hours. CORP0227-07/01 revised Report OES 18-09 April 14, 2009 Subject: Winter Control Operations Page 9 24 Conclusions & Future Considerations The City is currently providing a high level of service for winter control operations on roads and sidewalks for snow clearing. Increased levels of snow fall frequency and accumulation over the last two winter seasons have had an impact on resources required to maintain our level of service, specifically hours of work, equipment maintenance, fuel, and materials such as salt and winter sand. In order to maintain our current level of service, additional staff are required and are being requested in the 2009 current budget. Additional staff will offset the impact of MTO hours of service regulations and excessive overtime demands on current staff. In order to maintain levels of service where snow accumulation tends to fluctuate from season to season, the City should consider augmenting services through the use of contracted services, specifically for snow removal services. When future needs are unpredictable, it is not recommended to invest in capital equipment for snow removal, as the equipment may sit idle from season to season. Staff have researched snow removal attachments for existing equipment and the purchase of a "Snow Panther" snow blower attachment for Tiger boom mower will be recommended in the 2009 Capital Budget. When snow accumulation is heavy, staff also investigates the renting of additional equipment such as graders and sidewalk plows to complement the existing fleet. Having a contractor on standby for snow removal operations for cul-de-sacs or the boulevard parking on Liverpool Road is being investigated. If additional staff are not approved in the 2009 current budget, then having a contractor on stand-by for snow clearing operations would also be pursued. Attachments: 1. N/A Prepared By: Approved/Endorsed By: Ric and Holb n Everett Buntsm Dision Head, Municipal Property Director, Operations & Emergency Engineering Services Debi Wilcox City Clerk CORP0227-07/01 revised Report OES 18-09 April 14, 2009 Subject: Winter Control Operations Page 10 25 EB:mld Copy: Chief Administrative Officer Recommended for the consideration of Pickering City Council Thomas J. uin , RDM , MM III Chief Administrative Officer CORP0227-07/01 revised