The City of Toronto has released its multi-million dollar winter readiness plan for clearing roads, sidewalks and bicycle lanes as the city enters the winter season.
The budget for winter maintenance is about $109 million for the season, the City said.
Officials said they have replenished salt supplies and have snow clearing equipment at designated yards across the city. They also said snow response technology such as GPS and communication technologies has been installed.
Toronto Mayor John Tory held a press conference on the winter plan on Thursday, and said there is more of a focus on preparing the streets for the anticipation of snow.
Salting is the first line of defence, the City said, and that plowing will begin when snow reaches 5 cm on expressways, major roads and transit routes and then 8 cm on residential streets.
The plan comes as Toronto was walloped with a historic snow storm on Jan. 17 that dumped around 55 cm of snow — one of the top ten amounts of snowfall ever recorded in the city’s history.
The rapid snowfall accumulation, coupled with extreme cold temperatures over several days made it challenging for crews and equipment to clear the snow. The City was forced to launch the largest snow removal operation in history that resulted in mountains of snow, Tory said.
“It was an experience that taught us a lot of lessons,” Tory said adding that his staff has assured him that they are “more prepared than ever for winter weather.”
As well, the City said it will monitor cold weather swings between thawing and freezing that can cause an increase in watermain breaks.