BRAMPTON, ON: This past weekend saw an unprecedented spring storm hit most of southern Ontario, including Brampton. The combination of sleet, ice pellets, freezing rain and rain has been a challenge for City crews and residents in Brampton.
Later today (Tuesday), all available resources will be deployed to salt residential streets to help melt the snow and ice surfaces. All roads are expected to be salted by tomorrow.
The City has also secured some sidewalk tractors and is awaiting their arrival so they can be immediately deployed in strategic locations.
Many residents are asking why the City did not plow residential streets. There are two reasons:
- With a rainfall warning issued by Environment Canada and flood watches issued by our local conservation authorities on Monday, it was determined that plowing residential streets could block catch basins with ice and snow, increasing the risk of flooding.
- Like most municipalities, the majority of Brampton’s winter operations are carried out by contract. When that contract finished at the end of March, most contractors redeployed their equipment and operators for the construction season. Given the prolonged nature of this storm – and keeping in mind that a plowing operation takes about three times longer than a salt-only operation – crews had to work strategically. On the weekend, that meant a focus on plowing and salting main roads. On Monday, as temperatures began to rise, it meant continuing to clear main roads while also starting to focus on flood prevention.
City crews made preparations in advance of the storm, including:
- Monitoring the Environment Canada weather forecasts
- Reaching out to the expired contractors to determine what resources they could provide; unfortunately, less than 50 per cent of the normally contracted complement was available
- Ensuring sufficient salt material was stockpiled
- Developing an action plan based on available resources.
The City of Brampton thanks residents for their cooperation while these operations are underway. Crews continue to monitor weather forecasts and road conditions.
For ongoing updates, please follow the City of Brampton on Twitter and Facebook, and www.brampton.ca/snow. If you are trying to call 311, you’ll know that they are currently experiencing high call volumes and longer than usual wait times. To submit a service request, you can also email 311@brampton.ca or fill out the online form at service.brampton.ca/service-requests/report-snow-issues.
-30-
MEDIA CONTACT
Brian Stittle
Senior Media Coordinator
City of Brampton
905.874.2143 | brian.stittle@brampton.ca
