VIDEOS: Clearing the snow in Mississauga; here’s how it’s going to happen

With as much as 15 centimetres of snow possible in parts of the Greater Toronto Area on Sunday, Mississauga officials say they’re ready to keep roads — and the bottom of people’s driveways — clear should the city be hit by the first blast of winter.

The City of Mississauga says its winter maintenance crews, armed with equipment to help deliver new services, are prepared if needed to clear significant accumulations of snow and ice from major and secondary roads, bike lanes, bus stops and pedestrian crossings in addition to — for the first time — all sidewalks and residential windrows.

Windrows are the difficult-to-move piles of hard-packed snow and sometimes ice left at the end of driveways after the streets are plowed (see video below). They’ve been a contentious issue in Mississauga the past few years as residents have been pushing city council to deliver a winter plan to keep their driveways accessible.

Starting this winter, city snowplow crews will for the first time ever clear the windrows in front of homes across the entire city — a total of some 134,000 driveways. Using specialized new equipment, the plows will clear a 10-foot-wide opening at the end of driveways.

City officials noted snowplows will clear windrows only for home driveways. The service is not available for condominiums, commercial properties and homes on private roads.

The city says snowplows are deployed when five centimetres or more of snow accumulates on the ground (see video below). For less accumulation, winter maintenance crews salt the roads and sidewalks.

Whether this Sunday or later, Mississauga will be ready when it does receive its first significant winter blast and snowfall this season, says Mayor Carolyn Parrish.

“Winter is around the corner. We’re ready. All city sidewalks will be cleared this year as well as the windrows that form ice mountains at the end of driveways,” she said in a post to social media on Thursday. “We tested out the equipment and you will note the windrow blade is coated with rubber so it doesn’t damage driveways.”

Environment and Climate Change Canada said early Friday that between five and 15 centimetres of snow is possible on Sunday in a wide swath of southern Ontario that includes the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa and cottage country.

Mississauga officials said in a news release this week they’ve introduced the new snow-clearing services “to help get residents where they need to go and make travel safer for all road users.”

(Graphic: City of Mississauga)

Parrish added that, in recent years, winter storms that bring heavy snow to Mississauga “are the new normal” — and that makes the additional winter maintenance services, particularly windrow clearing, necessary.

“We know the strain and frustration (windrows) cause. I have been advocating for citywide driveway windrow clearing for years because I believe this is about more than just convenience — it’s about our city’s commitment to accessibility and safety, even in tough weather,” the mayor said in the city’s news release.

“We’re helping seniors, those with mobility issues and busy families get to where there need to go. As we roll out this new service for the first time this winter, I want to remind residents to please be patient, give crews and equipment space to work, and treat our crews, and each other, with kindness and respect.”

City officials remind residents they must keep up their end of the bargain if they want windrows cleared for them.

If homeowners want to receive the service, they must ensure snowplows can access the space required by doing several things, city officials say:

• Don’t park on the street, sidewalk or at the end of your driveway.
• Move garbage and recycling bins away from the curb.
• Remove sports equipment, yard decorations and other items from around your driveway entrance and sidewalk.

“Driveways and sidewalks blocked by parked cars, garbage and recycling bins, sports equipment or other obstacles will not be cleared,” city officials said in an online description of the new service.

This is the new equipment that will be used to clear windrows across Mississauga this winter.

In addition to the snow- and ice-clearing services, the city has also introduced new fines as high as $150 in an effort to stop people from parking their vehicles on streets during heavy snowfalls.

City council approved the move in October as part of an updated plan to deal with obstructions to winter snow-clearing efforts.

Officials are looking to such enforcement measures in response to a growing number of parked vehicles in recent winters that block the path of snowplows, thereby hindering snow-clearing efforts of road maintenance crews during and after significant snowfalls.

Add to that the city’s new plan to clear all windrows and it becomes even more critical to find new ways to discourage on-street parking when the snow flies, city officials said earlier.

Previously, there were very few, if any, restrictions in Canada’s seventh-largest city that effectively discouraged people from leaving their cars on the street and in the way of snowplows.

In looking at more than a dozen other southern Ontario municipalities, city staff earlier determined all of them “have implemented some form of winter parking restriction, which includes parking restrictions when a winter event is declared” and fines ranging from $30 to $150 for initial infractions.

Over the course of the coming winter, the city will declare a Citywide Winter Parking Restriction when the roads need to be plowed. During those times, on-street parking will not be allowed, except in areas identified by signage (for example, 15-hour maximum).

On-street parking on statutory holidays and religious observances is also prohibited, the city noted.

One of the snowplows used by the City of Mississauga.

Mississauga joins several other Greater Toronto Area municipalities in providing windrow clearing to all residents. Toronto, Richmond Hill and Vaughan already offer the snow- and ice-clearing service.

The matter of windrows became a big issue during winter 2022-23 when several major storms left numbers of people in Mississauga trapped in their homes, unable to clear the heavy snow and ice themselves.

Mississauga councillors said at the time they fielded more windrow complaints from residents than ever before.

Windrows have also been a significant source of growing public frustration in recent years that hit new heights in early 2023, culminating in several isolated incidents in which angry residents attacked Mississauga snow plow drivers and their machines.

In response, city councillors at that time discussed adopting a Mississauga-wide program.

In May 2023, faced with a staff report that showed it would cost $11.6 million a year to run a city-wide windrow-clearing service, council decided against the move at that time.

For more information on Mississauga’s winter maintenance/snow-clearing services, visit the city’s website.

Map shows possible snowfall amounts in store for the Greater Toronto Area and other parts of southern Ontario. (Image: Environment and Climate Change Canada)

(Cover photo and inside photos: City of Mississauga)