The City's winter road maintenance consists of plowing, windrowing, sanding, and hauling snow from priority 1, 2, and 3 roads. 

The City also contracts private crews to complete residential snow clearing when a significant snowfall occurs, or snow accumulates. 

• Sand and salt are stored at the City Service Centre.
• Snow is disposed of at the City snow dump site on Park Road. This dump is for City use only.

Our snow clearing fleet includes:

• 6 Tandem salt/sand trucks with front plow.
• 1 single-axle plow truck with a front plow.
• 1 1-ton sander with front plow.
• 2 tandem plow trucks with front plow/wing.
• 6 tandem trucks (city-owned).
• 6 end dump trucks (contracted).
• 1 snowblower for windrow pick-up (plus 1 backup unit).
• 6 graders.
• 5 front-end loaders with angle blade plow.
• 1 front-end loader with a bucket for use in salt and sand yards.
• 2 rubber-tired backhoes.
• 1 municipal tractor.
• 1 skid steer.
• 1 tool-cat.

Snow and Ice Service Review

Council directed staff prior to the 2022/2023 snow season to present a review of the City's Snow and Ice Control Service Levels. The purpose was to provide information to assist Council in considering service level adjustments for the 2022-23 snow season.

As part of the review, the City sought feedback from residents on the current snow and ice service levels and asked which services were most important to them, through a survey, a questions space, a Balancing Act budget tool, a public town hall, and two virtual focus groups.

We use a salt/sand mixture on our roads.

Salt is only effective when temperatures are above -15C. Once temperatures lower, salt will sit on icy road surfaces and get blown to the sides of the roads.

Ice control is applied to intersections on a continuous basis on all priority 1, 2, and 3 roads between October 15 to April 15 if deemed necessary by the Transportation Manager.

Residential areas, along with parking lots, sidewalks, pathways, and transit stops, will receive ice control on an as-needed basis. Typically residential areas are not sanded but are treated for trouble spots. A salt/sand mixture may be applied to intersections, corners, or downgrades in residential areas. Ice control is conducted as required and determined by the Transportation and Parks Manager. You may report icy sections in your area by visiting cityofgp.com/report-issues.

Depending on the specific location, snow on residential roads will be:

• Plowed to the side of the road without a sidewalk and pushed past the curb and stored on the City boulevard when there is a sidewalk on one side of the road.

• The City has introduced a new snow storage procedure for specific residential streets with sidewalks on both sides of the road.

  Going forward, road snow on these streets will be stored on the City boulevard and sidewalk on one side of the street, while the sidewalk on the opposite side remains available for pedestrian travel.

  The designated snow-storage side will alternate between winter seasons so the same side is not used every year.

• Piled and stored in the centre of cul-de-sacs.

Please note: Priority routes such as major collector roads and bus routes do not follow the residential snow plowing schedule.

Residents are responsible for clearing sidewalks adjacent to their property, except on designated residential streets where snow is pushed onto and stored on City boulevards and sidewalks along streets with sidewalks on both sides.

For more information, download the Snow Plowing Priorities Sidewalks & Trails map from our GIS Maps and Services page.

Transportation and Parks plows commuter trails in the City. Sidewalks adjacent to City owned property such as public utility lots, easements and parks will be cleared of snow during the residential snow clearing operation. Pathways within public utility lots and parks will not be plowed unless these pathways are links between sidewalks and pathways under City responsibility. Snow clearing will be initiated when snowfall accumulation exceeds 10 cm.

See Bylaw 1166 for more information