With more than two feet of snow in a week, the Town of Georgina continues its clean up of municipal roads and sidewalks. The Town’s significant weather and winter maintenance events remain in effect. Similar to other Ontario municipalities, Georgina continues to face challenges due to high winds, extreme cold temperatures, equipment and operator fatigue, and limited space to store snow. According to the Baldwin Environment Canada Weather Station, more than 69 centimetres (27 inches) of snow has fallen since Feb 12.
“Town crews continue to work diligently to get sidewalks and fire hydrants cleared of snow. Our top priority is the safety of our residents,” said Mayor Margaret Quirk. “The Town saw more than 69 centimetres (27 inches) of snow fall in a week, which is more than half of all last winter’s snow total. To say it was a lot of snow is an understatement. We still have a lot of work ahead of us. We are asking residents to be patient and to be respectful of Town staff who continue to work long hours to clear the snow.”
Crews have been working tirelessly to clear the roads and sidewalks during all weather conditions to ensure roads are safe for emergency access and for residents to get to their destination, although it has been a slow battle.
Snow lifts underway
As a top priority, all roadways now meet prescribed service levels and are passable, although many still require snow removal or widening. Snow lifts and removals have started and will continue for an anticipated three weeks or more, weather dependent. Both internal resources and contracted services are being used to complete these removals as quickly and efficiently as possible. Removals are prioritized by priority routes (emergency access, school zones), intersections (sightlines, blocked sidewalks), commercial areas (downtown BIAs, heavy pedestrian zones) and low-storage zones such as courts.
Sidewalk clearing
As a result of the significant and rapid snow accumulation, and more than 48 days since temperatures have allowed for melting, the Town is limited on using traditional sidewalk plows to effectively remove snow from sidewalks. To combat this, machines equipped with snow blowers must travel all routes first to remove snow. These are followed by traditional plows to scrape and treat sidewalks and walkways. This process is significantly slower than typical service timelines. As of Thursday, Feb. 20, most sidewalks have been cleared once by a snow blower and all are expected to be cleared by end of day Friday, Feb. 21. Crews will continue to work on removing snowpack until the prescribed service levels are achieved.
Fire hydrants
Fire hydrant access remains a priority for Georgina Fire and Rescue Services, and Town crews are working quickly to ensure access is maintained. Additional contracted services have been supporting staff in ensuring all municipally owned hydrants are accessible by the end of the weekend.
Parking
Residents are reminded – help us help you. Avoid parking on the roads or overhanging sidewalks. Parking is prohibited on Town roads between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. daily. Residents are also reminded to not shovel show onto the roads from private property.
For more information on winter operations, visit georgina.ca/snow.