Regional crews travel equivalent of return trip to moon to keep roads clear

YorkRegion.com
Feb. 5, 2014
By Sean Pearce

Had enough yet?

We’re only one week into our second full month of winter and, for many of us, it already feels like an endurance test.

So far, winter 2013-14 has given us an ice storm, freezing polar vortex and seemingly endless snowfall.

Wednesday brought more of the white stuff with parts of the GTA, York Region included, expecting 10 to 20 centimetres more snow.

The latest blast of winter weather led to bus cancellations across the region and resulted in York Regional Police and OPP responding to dozens of crashes.

As if to add insult to injury, groundhogs Wiarton Willie and Punxsutawney Phil saw their shadows Sunday, meaning six more weeks of winter. Fortunately, Shubenacadie Sam, Nova Scotia’s most famous weather-forecasting woodchuck, managed to miss his shadow, supposedly heralding an early spring, but, then again, he might only be predicting relief for Maritimes residents.

Regardless of your thoughts on the clairvoyance of groundhogs, the fact remains it has been a rough winter.

It’s too early to sat how much York Region has spent battling blizzards and freezing rain thus far, roads maintenance manager Joseph Petrungaro said, but the annual budget for winter roads upkeep is about $16 million.

The region definitely when higher than that number for 2013, thanks in large part to the ice storm, he said.

Last year saw regional workers respond to 104 winter events, Mr. Petrungaro said, whereas a typical winter dishes out about 75.

We also saw about 75 hours of freezing rain in 2013, compared to 10 in 2012, he said.

“Freezing rain is pretty aggressive,” he said. “It’s about the hardest thing to combat.”

The difficulty is every time you salt a road during a freezing rain storm, the melting ice dilutes the salt and can lead to re-freezing, Mr. Petrungaro said.

As such, the roads require near-constant attention during freezing rain events, he said.

To determine its response to inclement weather, the region monitors conditions and pavement temperatures at five sites spread throughout York, Mr. Petrungaro said. Through these, staff gets localized forecasts from the Weather Network and can predict how cold its road surfaces will be to select the best response to the conditions, he explained, adding staff is also on patrol 24/7.

The salt-brine mixture the region uses is helpful, as it spreads saltwater over the surface of the road. Over time, the water component evaporates, leaving a salt residue behind that can melt incoming snow or freezing rain, Mr. Petrungaro said.

The problem is, if the pavement temperature dips to -6 C or colder, there is a danger the water may not evaporate. Given the solution is about 75-per-cent water, it can actually make your ice problem worse if not used at the right time, he said.

In colder temperatures, the region will put down rock salt to melt ice and snow and keep the roads clear, Mr. Petrungaro said. However, at about -12 C this, too, starts to lose its effectiveness, as the reaction happens too slowly to help, he explained.

In extremely cold temperatures, when neither brine nor salt will do, the region will simply sand the roadways, he added.

“It’s there for traction,” Mr. Petrungaro said. “The sand won’t melt it, but it will help people to steer and stop.”

Ultimately, battling winter weather is about selecting the right tool, using the right amount and deploying it at the right time, he added.

The numbers aren’t yet known for how much salt and sand the region used last year, but Mr. Petrungaro said it put down about 1.5-million litres of brine. Crews also plowed, salted and sanded about 800,000 kilometres worth of road, he said, or a little more than the distance from Earth to the moon and back.

In addition to the region, York’s local-tier municipalities are also working hard to keep winter from blocking your way.

No matter where you live, Mr. Petrungaro urges you to adjust your life for the winter weather.

That means giving yourself extra time to get where you’re going on stormy days, taking transit or working from home if you can, he said, adding rushing on slippery roads and not driving to the conditions puts everyone at risk.

Finally, he asked that you give snowplows plenty of room on the roads.

They might be slow, but behind one is often the safest place to be, he added.

WHITCHURCH-STOUFFVILLE

For example, it’s been an all-hands-on-deck kind of winter for Whitchurch-Stouffville.

From November to January, the number of full callouts for snow clearing is up by about 60 per cent compared to the previous year, public works director Paul Whitehouse said.

A full callout consists of 15 trucks - eight from Fermar Contracting and seven of the town’s.

It is also taking about twice as long to clear roads and sidewalks. A normal snow event takes about two to three hours to clear; this year, it’s taking roughly four or five hours each time, Mr. Whitehouse said.

The amount of sand/salt used between Nov. 2013 and Jan. 2014 is about 2-1/2 times that used Nov. 2012 to Jan. 2013, he said.

Because January to April 2013 was relatively light, Mr. Whitehouse said despite the heavy snowfall in November and December and the ice storm, the department should be within budget, but if the winter continues on like this for the next six weeks, it could run over budget this year.

GEORGINA

The cost of cleaning up after 20 snow events to date in Georgina is $119,922.40, excluding labour and vehicle costs.

About 9,224.8 tonnes of material have been used until the end of January - 4,474.8 tonnes or $58,172.40 in December and 4,750 tonnes or $61,750 in January.

Cleanup involves road crews, on-call drivers and contracted providers plowing and sanding more than 320 kilometres of roadway under the town’s jursidiction.

“Our roads department has done a fabulous job keeping our roads in fantastic shape,” Ward 5 Councillor Brad Smockum said Wednesday, adding Georgina’s road crews are among the best in the region.

Road crews have been out more in the past month this year than during the entire winter season last year.

AURORA

In Aurora, the set winter maintenance budget for 2013 was $778,200, corporate communications manager Mike Kemp said.

“This budget includes clearing and maintaining local roads and sidewalks. York Region provides winter maintenance service for the arterial road system,” he said.

That budget was split into two parts, $522,900 put toward plowing local roads and sidewalks and the other $255,300 for salt and sanding.

The town’s winter maintenance program for the colder months in 2013 covered January, February, March, November and December.

For the 2014 maintenance budget, final amount is anticipated to move forward for council approval Feb. 25, Mr. Kemp said, pending the outcome of the general committee budget meeting Feb. 10.

“The town tracks all costs and our finance department will have final accounting by April,” he said.

NEWMARKET

In Newmarket, it’s too early to know exactly how much has been spent on winter road maintenance, but the municipality is expected to dip into an emergency reserve fund to cover its plowing, salting and sanding costs at some point this season.

Significant snow accumulation, consistently frigid temperatures, December’s ice storm and the lack of a mid-winter thaw have all contributed to create unusually tough conditions for municipal maintenance crews, public works services director Chris Kalimootoo said.

“We’ve been out road plowing twice as much as in the previous year,” he said. “Obviously, that takes a financial toll. This is the worst winter I’ve ever seen.”

Maintenance crews have frequently worked 12 to 13 hour shifts since November, Mr. Kalimootoo said.

The equipment isn’t made for ice storms, he said.

“It’s so difficult to remove from sidewalks and roads,” he said of the ice. “We’ve had to make multiple passes. It wears on the body. In general, everybody’s feeling the drain of this winter.”

MARKHAM

In 2013, the winter maintenance budget in Markham was $6.7 million, but the amount spent was about $9.25 million.

That’s close to double the $4.74 million spent in 2012 and one of the reasons why the city is proposing to boost the amount set aside for keeping the winter weather at bay to $7.07 million.

VAUGHAN

Vaughan budgeted $11 million for winter control in 2013, spokesperson Anne Winstanley said.

The total spent is not yet known, but it is believed to be just shy of $13 million, she said, adding the city has a winterization reserve that can be used to cover any additional costs from unanticipated events.

Additional winter control costs for the initial response to the ice storm in December were about $700,000, Ms Winstanley said. Those were just a small portion of the overall costs from the storm, as much of the figure relates to tree damage, removal and clean up.

The city is seeking assistance from the province under the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program and from other sources, if available.

RICHMOND HILL

Between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31, Richmond Hill spent $2.3 million on winter maintenance.

That’s around $1 million more than what was spent during the same period in 2012-13.

The town has also adjusted its sand-salt mixture from 50-50 to 100 per cent salt, but lowered the application rate, town spokesperson Carol Moore said. The amount of snow has been problematic, she said, as there is limited space on the municipal boulevards to store snow. The town also continues to remove snow on regional road allowances where sidewalks are close to the curbs.

The town has 24 snow plows operating during a full-plow event and 18 sidewalk plows ready to go when a full response is required, Ms Moore said.

There are also additional resources in place to clear parking lots at community centres and municipal offices and the town clears more than 1,000 windrows for senior citizens and disabled residents within 24 hours of a snowfall.

KING

In King, the winter maintenance budget is just more than $595,000 in 2014.

That equates to more than $237,000 in wages, $45,000 in overtime, $63,000 in benefits, $230,000 for materials and $20,000 in contractual services.

That’s also up slightly from the 2013 winter maintenance budget of $588,000.

EAST GWILLIMBURY

Staff was not available for comment by deadline.