Environment Canada has issued a snowfall advisory for areas around Hamilton and Niagara Region with the prospect of reduced visibility on roadways amid heavy snow.
The weather agency also says icy and slippery conditions are likely as five to 10 centimetres of white stuff is anticipated right through Monday night and into Tuesday morning.
“Rain showers are expected to quickly change to snow late this afternoon or this evening as colder air moves into southern Ontario,” meteorologists said in a statement Monday afternoon.
“Snow may become heavy at times with increasing northwest winds gusting from 50 to 60 kilometres per hour resulting in localized areas of blowing snow.”
Snowfall in Brantford and parts of Norfolk County is not expected to be as intense, with just two to four centimetres in the next 24 hours.
Hamilton’s manager of roadway maintenance says crews have already been out in recent weeks and did some snow removal on major thoroughfares during a brief wintery spell Nov. 28.
He says the division typically begins prepping for the season in August using a private weather forecast service to anticipate equipment needs in advance.
“So we get a lot of detail early … for any type of storm and we’re prepared for anything that comes our way,” Peter Sniuolis explained.
Of the 500 vehicles in the fleet, several begin clearing residential roads in the first 24 hours of an event.
The city’s enhanced snow removal service is activated when there is more than five centimetres of snow, and is designed to improve access and mobility by clearing an additional 469 kilometres of sidewalk.
The City of Hamilton currently clears 882 kilometres of some 2,468 kilometres of sidewalks.
Sniuolis says the city mandate is to clear sidewalks within 24 hours of “a significant weather event” – declared by Ontario municipalities when provincially set deadlines for winter maintenance need to be extended.
Residents can follow the progress of some vehicles in the fleet via a live digital plow tracking app on the city’s website.
On Dec.4, public works presented a review of service levels under the direction of council to conform with the city’s Vision Zero road safety initiatives.
Options offered included updating existing third-party removal contracts, more sidewalk clearing, more service in school zones, a city-wide driveway windrow clearing program and bylaw enforcement at a cost of several million dollars.
Comments