Did you know: The Public Works team maintains over 400 km of roads and 30 km of sidewalks each year? Watch the video to learn about winter road operations at the Town of Huntsville!
Winter maintenance starts from November 1st until April 15thfor Huntsville roads and sidewalks. Please see the following maintenance activities:
Plowing Roads and Sidewalks:
Roads:
When 2-3 inches of snow has accumulated, crews begin to work on main routes.
When snow levels reach 3-4 inches, plows will visit secondary/local roads.
Staff watch temperature and snowfall amounts closely. Plows may be diverted from one area to another during weather events. This helps maintain roads with high traffic, safely and more efficiently.
Plowing length of time
The length of time it will take to plow roads, depends on:
Time of day storm starts
Time of day storm ends
How long storm lasts
Wind conditions
Temperatures
Traffic and obstacles (example: parked cars)
Main roads aim to be plowed within 6-12 hours after snowfall has ended.
All other roads within 12-16 hours after snowfall has ended.
Sidewalks:
When three inches of snow has accumulated, crews begin to work on main routes
Sidewalks on major roads and streets with schools are first priority
Maintained to a snow-packed conditions
Clearing length of time
The Town of Huntsville aims to have all sidewalks cleared within 48 hours of a snowstorm.
REMINDER: Keep sidewalks by your property or home free and clear of ice and snow. This is required between 9am and 5pm.
Plow Routes and Maps:
The Town of Huntsville has 9 dedicated plow routes. Each route takes about 6-7 hours to complete depending on many factors such as:
Weather
Road conditions
Obstructions (i.e. parked vehicles)
Our drivers operate on a split shift model during the weekdays.
Reminder: Keep a safe distance back from plows and avoid passing. Please be patient with plow drivers.
Snow Removal and Clearing from Roads and Parking Lots
Snow removal is different to snow plowing. Plowing pushes snow to road edges while removal is when crews take away the large banks that pile up on road edges or in parking lots.
Benefits of snow removal:
Removes “tunneling effect” of snow banks and improves sight lines
Reduces amount of sand along the roads for a quicker spring cleanup (not as much sand to sweep up)
Reduces amount of sand that washes into the roadside catch basins and ditches in the spring
Reminder:Do not shovel, blow or plow snow out onto a public roadway as it is illegal under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act.
Town-owned parking lots are generally cleared between midnight and 6:00 am. If a vehicle is parked in a lot between these hours, the vehicle may get plowed in.
Parking Areas: View the parking map to find out where to park safely during the winter months.
Fleet
To maintain the roads and sidewalks during the winter season, the Town of Huntsville has:
Ten plow/sander trucks
Graders
Loaders
Three sidewalk plows
Each of these vehicles have an assigned route.
Non-winter Maintenance
Starts April 16th until October 31st for Huntsville roads and sidewalk maintenance. Please see the following maintenance activities:
Sweeping
Street sweeping begins after half-loads are lifted in the spring and removes debris and leftover materials from winter on the roadway. Sweeping takes approximately 5 weeks to complete for our area roads and sidewalks.
Reminder: Please do not push sand or leaves into piles on the road as the sweeper cannot pick them up.
Catchbasin Cleaning
As stormwater runoff flows over asphalt, concrete, and gravel on roads, parking lots, and driveways, it picks up pollutants like dirt, sand, brake dust, metals, and other hazardous materials from the surface. This polluted runoff usually flows to the nearest catchbasin.
When the runoff enters the catchbasin, some of these heavier pollutants sink to the bottom, where they accumulate. The remaining runoff drains to the storm sewer. Over time, the amount of pollutants in the bottom of the catchbasin builds up and needs to be removed.
Line Painting
Winter weather and maintenance activities affect the traffic lines, directional arrows, safety markers, bike lanes, parking spaces etc. Each spring, lines are repainted after road sweeping has been conducted.
Pothole Repair
Water seeping into cracks in the pavement gradually softens the ground beneath the road as it builds up. During freezing temperatures, this water freezes and expands, exerting pressure that pushes the pavement upwards. When the water beneath the pavement dries, a hole is left beneath the road. This weakens the pavement significantly and as a result, when a vehicle passes over this weakened section, the pavement collapses, resulting in the formation of a pothole.
Town crews regularly patrol streets to identify potholes and other road deficiencies; but potholes can develop daily when temperatures begin to hover around zero degrees. By reporting potholes, you can help ensure that they are repaired in a timely manner.
A ditch is an excavated channel in the ground that conveys water during storm events and spring melts. Each year the Town addresses problematic areas and request for service from the public.
Roadside Brushing Maintenance
Summer roadside brushing activities clear the road allowances of all brush, shrub, small trees, large trees and overhanging tree canopy to ensure safe travel for the community. By removing the grow in problematic areas it improves sightlines, overhead clearances, roadside clearances and to ensure snow storage areas are available where needed.
Minor Culvert Repairs and Replacement
Minor Road Base Repair (depression of heaves)
Gravel Shouldering
Gravel shouldering is the process of bringing gravel shoulders level with the asphalt (shoulder washouts). Improvements made to road shouldering and ditching help the overall performance of a road as:
Road shoulders help stabilize the edge of the road as they are often used for emergency stopping or pull-over areas.
Roadside ditches collect water runoff and provide necessary drainage area too.
When road shoulders are properly graded, surface water runoff is able to drain to the roadside ditches properly. This reduces the amount of standing water on the road and alongside the road.
Dust Suppressant for Gravel Roads
Begins June 1st to July 1st, weather dependent. Town staff uses calcium chloride once per year throughout the spring months to control dust.
Gravel Roads (Grading)
Regulatory and Warning Sign Maintenance (Speed signs, stop signs yield, road name signs)
Report a concern
Before contacting us, please allow some time for our crews to catch up with the snow event. The volume of calls increases a lot during this time.
Huntsville Public Works maintain Town-owned roadways, sidewalks and parking lots throughout the year. Muskoka Public Works maintain District roadways throughout the year. Check the list of District roads if you are unsure who maintains a road.
Watch the video to learn about winter road operations at the Town of Huntsville!
Roads
Winter road maintenance
Winter road maintenance
From Nov 1st to April 15th each year we plow, sand, salt and remove snow from:
Over 400 kms of roads
About 30 kms of sidewalks
Town parking lots
Standards
The Town is required to meet the Provincial Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways (MMS). The MMS are standards from the Province of Ontario for road maintenance. Snow and ice are removed within a specified time frame. Standards can vary by road class, speed limit and traffic volume on a roadway.
Plowing - general
When 2-3 inches of snow has accumulated, crews begin to work on main routes.
When snow levels reach 3-4 inches, plows will visit secondary/local roads.
Staff watch temperature and snowfall amounts closely. Plows may be diverted from one area to another during weather events. This helps maintain roads with high traffic, safely and more efficiently.
Plowing length of time
The length of time it will take to plow roads, depends on:
Time of day storm starts
Time of day storm ends
How long storm lasts
Wind conditions
Temperatures
Traffic and obstacles (example: parked cars)
Main roads aim to be plowed within 6-12 hours after snowfall has ended.
All other roads within 12-16 hours after snowfall has ended.
Plowing - vehicles
The Town has:
Ten plow/sander trucks
Graders
Loaders
Three sidewalk plows
Each of these vehicles have an assigned route.
Plowing - routes, map and priority roads
The Town of Huntsville has 9 dedicated plow routes. Each route takes about 6-7 hours to complete depending on many factors such as:
Weather
Road conditions
Obstructions (like parked vehicles)
Our drivers operate on a split shift model during the weekdays.
Reminder
Keep a safe distance back from plows and avoid passing. Please be patient with plow drivers.
Snow is cleared based on the type of road/street and the volume of traffic. Plowing priorities are:
Main routes
Main routes focus on main roads which carry large traffic volume, such as:
Bus routes
School areas
Emergency service areas (fire, police, hospital)
Critical areas on hills, curves and bridges
These roads are the first priority roads. They are maintained to a bare pavement condition.
Designated secondary routes
Designated secondary routes focus on the streets that link the main routes. Links could include:
Secondary streets; or
Residential streets
These streets are the second priority. They are maintained to a centre bare pavement condition.
Secondary routes
Secondary/local routes include all streets that:
Are not main routes
Are not designated secondary routes
Are low volume traffic
These streets are not brought to a bare pavement condition. But are plowed and sanded as necessary to provide safe travel. And are serviced after the main and designated secondary routes have been cleared.
District of Muskoka snow clearing priorities
The District of Muskoka owns and maintains many roads in the Town's limits. Check the list of District roads if you are unsure who maintains a road.
If you have a plowing concern on a District road, contact:
From April 16th to Oct 31st each year we maintain, sweep, and repair from:
Over 417 km of roads
About 30 km of sidewalks
Town parking lots
Maintenance Standards
The Town is required to meet the Provincial Minimum Standard for Municipal Highways (MMS). The MMS are standards from the Province of Ontario for road maintenance. Standards can vary by road class, speed limit, traffic volume and weather conditions on the roadway.
Hard Top Roads
We have our Roads Needs Study conducted to help identify roads to repair and resurface in our road network. Where feasible, we coordinate work with other infrastructure (i.e. sewer/water main) repairs or road resurfacing projects.
Other Maintenance: Sweeping, line painting, ditching, culverts, roadside mowing, rejuvenation, tree maintenance.
To maintain and preserve our roads, we use typical treatments such as:
Pothole repair
Brushing to dry out roadways
Sweeping
Ditching & Culvert Repair
Roadside Mowing & Tree Maintenance
Crack sealing
Line painting
Mill & High Float
Slurry Seal
Asphalt Rejuvenation and Sealing
Expanded asphalt with overlay
Bridge Washing (Spring)
Full reconstruction
Sweeping – Spring street sweeping usually starts near the end of April or early May depending on the weather conditions, it takes approximately 5 weeks to complete.
Please do not push sand or leaves into piles on the road as the sweeper cannot pick them up.
Potholes – Potholes occur on our roadways when:
Water seeps into cracks in the pavement.
The water builds up and softens the ground under the road.
The water freezes and expands, which pushes the pavement up.
When the water under the pavement dries, a hole is left beneath the road.
The pavement is now weakened. As soon as a car drives over this area, the pavement collapses, leaving behind a pothole.
The Town crews regularly patrol streets to identify potholes and other road deficiencies; but potholes can develop daily when temperatures begin to hover around zero degrees. By reporting potholes, you can help ensure that they are repaired in a timely manner.
All roads within the municipality are required to be maintained in accordance with the Provincial Minimum Maintenance Standards. The minimum maintenance standard sets out the maximum size (area) and depth that a pothole can be before a repair is required. It also sets out the amount of time that is allowed to pass before the repair must be completed and that varies based on the road class. The standard ranges from 4 days for heavily travelled roads to 30 days for roads with lesser amounts of traffic.
Frost Heave/Cross Culvert Dips - This is caused by areas having 2 different compaction ratings and the Frost Heave Cycle having more effect in one area than another.
Reconstruction – between road inspection and Road Needs Study, streets are determined by the level of service required due to ratings. A road might require crack sealing or total reconstruction depending on its rating. Usually when reconstruction is being planned, the Town will brush the road, then ditch and replace culverts. The Town does its best to work with the District of Muskoka and other infrastructure to make sure no future work is planned.
Stone Roads
As soon as weather permits in the spring, roads will be graded to remove potholes. Following this, a second pass of the grader will be completed to crown the roads before applying calcium chloride.
Grading
Dust Suppression – June 1st to July 1st weather dependant. We use calcium chloride once per year throughout the spring months to control dust.
Seasonally Maintained Roads
These roads are graded once a year. Extra grading or material would be at the Director or designate discretion.
In Huntsville, we have a variety of different maintenance statuses for roads. Learn which roads are Summer Maintained, No Winter Maintenace or Unmaintained:
Help expand the community's sidewalk framework. Join the conversation on myhuntsville.ca
Winter sidewalk maintenance
Winter sidewalk maintenance
From Nov 1st to April 15th each year we plow, sand, salt and remove snow from:
Over 400 kms of roads
About 30 kms of sidewalks
Town parking lots
Standards
The Town is required to meet the Provincial Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways (MMS). The MMS are standards from the Province of Ontario for road maintenance. Snow and ice are removed within a specified time frame. Standards can vary by road class, speed limit and traffic volume on a roadway.
Snow removal - sidewalks
Sidewalks are maintained during the winter months by Town of Huntsville staff.
The Town has three sidewalk plows.
When three inches of snow has accumulated, crews begin to work on main routes
Sidewalks on major roads and streets with schools are first priority
Maintained to a snow-packed conditions
Clearing length of time
We aim to have all sidewalks clear within 48 hours.
Reminder
Keep sidewalks by your property or home free and clear of ice and snow. This is required between 9am and 5pm.
Snow clearing - parking lots
Town-owned parking lots are generally cleared between midnight and 6 a.m. If a vehicle is parked in a lot between these hours, it may get plowed in.
Parking areas - map
View the parking map to find out where to park safely during the winter months.
Questions or Concerns
During snow events, the Public Works crews will be out plowing, salting/sanding.
Report a concern
Before contacting us, please allow some time for our crews to catch up with the snow event. The volume of calls increases a lot during this time.
From April 16th to Oct 31st each year we maintain, sweep, and repair from:
About 30 km of sidewalks/trails/pathways
Town parking lots
Standards
The Town is required to meet the Provincial Minimum Standard for Municipal Highways (MMS). The MMS are standards from the Province of Ontario for road maintenance. Standards can vary by road class, speed limit, traffic volume and weather conditions on the roadway.
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