Winter Road & Sidewalk Maintenance

The Town maintains maintenance on routes. High volume roads start our snow clearing route. These roads are business areas and emergency service routes. Secondary roads follow on our route which are residential or rural. After priority routes are clear, we begin the secondary roads.

Sanding priority:

• High traffic roads; King Street, Midland Avenue, William Street, Yonge Street & Hugel Avenue.
• Bus Routes and other collector routes.
• Hills on the east & west sides of town.
• School zones.
• Major intersections.

This reflects the speed and traffic levels of each road. This helps us clear the roads based on the risk involved with each category.

The Town does not get involved as this is a civil matter, everyone is encouraged to speak with their neighbours to resolve any potential concerns.

A snow windrow is the pile of snow left at the bottom of a driveway after a snowplow or sidewalk machine has cleared the road or sidewalk in front of the property. Corner lots will always get more snow at the end of the driveway, as the snow piles up on the plow blade during the turn and unavoidably falls in the first driveway.

The Town does not clear windrows. Windrows can be frustrating for residents living in snowy areas like Midland, though to effectively plow the road windrows cannot be avoided. The Town has no resources to support residents in removing snow that has fallen onto their property.

It is important to note that our plow operators do not block driveways on purpose. For snow removal to be safe and efficient, windrows and snow buildup is unavoidable. 

Some roads in Midland are under the care of a different jurisdiction. The County of Simcoe removes snow from County Road 93 and Highway 12. They also remove snow on the ramps for those highways.

The waste carts are not to be placed on the road or sidewalks, this will interfere with snow removal. Bins can be placed on the residents boulevard about 8 ft from the road edge, the County of Simcoe can still pick-up the bins at that distance from the road edge. Learn more on the Simcoe County's website.

Clearing snow from a fire hydrant in your neighbourhood can save precious moments if your home had a structure fire. Town staff work to clear fire hydrants, though it is extremely appreciated when residents clear ones on or near their property.

If there was any accidental damage to your lawn while the crew was completing maintenance operations Submit a Service Request to report the issue.

Corner lots may experience more snow from plowing due to the plow carrying snow around the curve from one street to another. For efficient snow removal, there is no way for the Town to avoid this.

The Town of Midland currently has five plow trucks complete with sand/salt spreaders, five sidewalk machines, four wheeled loaders and an assortment of smaller machines and trucks to support snow removal operations.

Operations crews have two main shifts: an 8am–4:30pm day shift and a 12am–8:30am night shift. In addition to these main shifts, there is a 3:30pm–12am road patrol shift to monitor road conditions. Combined, these shifts provide 24-hour road patrol Monday to Friday. If there is a storm outside of regular hours or on a weekend, crews are called in on an overtime basis to meet the minimum maintenance standards.

As road conditions become slippery, crews salt the roads in potentially hazardous locations such as intersections, curves, and school/pedestrian crosswalks. Snow plowing will commence on high traffic roadways after an accumulation of 5 cm to 8 cm. Sanding and plowing is carried out in order of priority of class highways.

These are commonly referred to as 'Percy's Peaks' as an homage to the Town staff that implemented this maintenance operation. First, the grader or plow piles the snow in a “windrow” in the middle of the road, then the overnight crew will come back with the blower to blow the snow into a waiting truck to be hauled away to the snow dump. Minimizing the interruption caused by the plow, as well as keeping the on-street parking spots open (less snow to step in when getting out of your car).

Roads are organized into a priority system based off of the Province's Minimum Maintenance Standards. Midland does not have any class 1 roads (according to MMS). Crews focus on the class 3 roads, which are high-traffic and arterial roads like parts of King Street, Yonge Street and Hugel Avenue. While the snow is falling, crews are required to address these roads over class 4-6 roads (residential). 

We clear over 270 km of roads in Midland. Town crews aim to address all roads within 12 hours after the snow has stopped falling. This exceeds the minimum requirements set out by the province (MMS). While the snow is falling, crews will continuously work to reduce snow on roads.

Normal snow removal equipment will blade the snow to a level snow pack may not clear residential roads to bare pavement. The objective of the snow removal process is to make the roads drivable and reduce the amount of surface flooding during the spring melt. The MMS requires municipalities to reduce snow as per their classification.

Laneways may not be plowed until all the higher priority roads are completed after the snow has stopped falling.

The Town has limited sidewalk machines that will either push or blow snow to reduce the amount of snow on sidewalks. The sidewalks around schools or close to direct hospital routes will be prioritized. When the snow is falling, the sidewalks will not be clear. It is important to understand that a sidewalk does not “bare off” like an asphalt roadway.

The Town will start on sidewalks once there is more than 8 cm of snow. Sidewalks in residential areas will be completed once the priority ones are finished. When there is zero snow falling, the Town will reduce the snow accumulation on sidewalks to be less or equal to 8 cm within 48 hours of the last snow fall. This is a requirement set out by the MMS. During a significant weather event, the Town is not required to clear the sidewalks until after the declaration has ended.

Unlike other municipalities, it is not a requirement for residents to clear snow on the sidewalk in front of their homes, though it is very much appreciated and helps our community. The Town aims to ensure all sidewalks are maintained as per the MMS.

As outlined by the MMS, the snow is to be reduced to equal or less than 8 cm in depth. If the depth of snow accumulation on a sidewalk is less than or equal to 8 cm following maintenance efforts, the sidewalk is deemed to be in a state of repair in respect of snow accumulation.

If you believe the sidewalk may need additional service, Submit a sevice request. Remember sidewalks may not be addressed until up to 48 hours after snow has stopped falling.

Crews regular perform snow removal operations, prioritizing downtown areas, parking lots, and sightline visibility areas.

Crews cut back high snowbanks after a considerable amount of snow accumulation for safety and to improve sight lines. There is no regulation requiring the Town to perform this operation; residents are able to remove snowbanks or hire a company to perform this service if they wish.

There is only one heavy equipment vehicle that cuts back snowbanks in the entire town. This operation typically takes place overnight to ensure community safety and avoid interruptions to daily traffic.

During seasons of heavy snow fall, the snowbanks may not be cut back as frequently. This is because the crew is working overnight to continue clearing falling snow. Residents are encouraged to not pile snow from windrows or their driveway on snowbanks close to the road. This operation will be completed but it is an additional service and not a requirement by the Province's MMS.

Playing in snowbanks along the edge of the road is very dangerous. Plow trucks are large and heavy and cannot stop instantaneously. Children sliding down snowbanks or building forts on/in the banks cannot be seen by the plow drivers. Please stay safe.