GENERAL COMMITTEE
	TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
	FROM:	Peter Loukes, Director of Operations and Asset Management
	PREPARED BY:	Paul Ingham, General Manager, Operations
	DATE OF MEETING:	April 4, 2005
	SUBJECT:	Driveway Windrow Clearing

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the information report entitled ‘Driveway Windrow Clearing’, dated April 4, 2005 be received.

PURPOSE:

Operations staff was requested to present an information report to Committee and Council outlining the Town’s current windrow snow clearing program as well as suggestions to enhance the program and all costs associated with possible adjustments to current service levels.

BACKGROUND:

Present driveway clearing level of service

Currently the Operations Department provides this service free of charge to senior citizens and physically challenged persons. Town contractors clear the windrow of snow across the end of private residential driveways within a reasonable time after the plow has passed the driveway. Generally these windrows are cleared within 2 to 4 hours following the plowing of the street. However, depending on the total accumulations and type of precipitation received (i.e. sleet, freezing rain) this operation can take longer to complete.

In addition to the seniors program, the Operations Department has implemented a windrow snow clearing program whereby the Town acts as a facilitator for both the individual homeowner and the private contractor to arrange this service. Each year the Town solicits private contractors to agree to provide windrow snow clearing for private residents at the current rate of $60.00 per winter season. Through the Town’s web page, newspaper ads and information provided by the Contact Centre, the homeowners are provided with the names and contact numbers of the contractors and instructed to contact one of the contractors and enter into a private agreement to hire the contractor to perform this service for the entire winter season at the guaranteed price of $60.00. As a participant in this program, contractors are notified by Operations staff of the commencement of our plowing operations so that the contractor can respond to their clients in a timely manner.

Through surveys conducted with these contractors following the 2003/2004 winter season, the Operations Department has determined that less than 0.5% of homeowners are participating in this program.

Super mailboxes

In accordance with the existing agreement between the Town of Markham and Canada Post, clearing of snow around super mailboxes is the responsibility of Canada Post. Through discussions with Canada Post the Operations Department has been advised that each postal station is required to secure private contractors to undertake snow clearing at all mailboxes within their designated areas. Although we have experienced some problems with the level of service provided by Canada Post, when approached by the Operations Department, they are generally quick to respond to complaints.

OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:

Driver/Operator Training

Prior to each winter season the Operations Department conducts mandatory training sessions for all operators of sanding/salting and snow clearing equipment. The training sessions focus on the following areas for snow clearing operations:

· Response time when dispatched – contractors are required to respond within one hour of receipt of a call to work

· Clearing cul-de-sacs and wide corners – contractors are instructed to plow snow in cul-de-sacs from the curb line to the centre of the cul-de-sac. For wide corners, contractors are instructed to move as much snow as possible to the lot flankage on wide corners.

· Clearing around parked vehicles – when operators encounter situations where parked cars prevent them from safely passing without risk of damage to vehicles, contractors are instructed to contact the duty supervisor to report the problem. The duty supervisor then contacts Parking Control to arrange for removal of the vehicle(s) impeding snow clearing operations

· Seniors driveway windrow clearing – contractors are instructed to clear all seniors driveways included on their approved lists within 4 hours following the plowing of the road.

· Property Damage – contractors are instructed to report all property damage immediately to the duty supervisor

· Public relations – operators and coordinators must be skilled and competent and behave in an orderly manner while performing the work. The Town reserves the right to request the Contractor to remove any workers from the assignment should it be in the best interest of the Town to do so.

Throughout the winter season, contractors may effect staff changes that result in the introduction of new operators (or changing of operators) that are not familiar with their respective plowing routes in Markham. As supervisory staff are often not aware of the staff changes, these new operators are not provided with appropriate training on various plowing techniques (specifically cul-de-sacs and wide corners). These are the situations which cause poor service delivery thereby creating increased difficulty for residents to clear large windrows or shovelling part of the road, as the operator has not cleared snow to the curb line. As a result, contractors will be required to notify Operations supervisory staff of any change in operators and requisite training will be carried out at an appropriate time.

Town Wide Windrow Clearing Program

Previous reviews of the Town’s policy on driveway windrow clearing have generated a great deal of discussion over the years including consideration of implementing a Town wide windrow clearing program. Although a Town wide program would certainly be welcomed by most residents, there are several factors to contemplate before considering the implementation of the program.

Windrow Clearing Process

The Operations Department has reviewed the practices of other municipalities engaged in full windrow clearing programs and has determined that there are generally two types of service delivery options to select from.

Option 1 – Additional Graders equipped with ‘snow-rid’ blades

This process has been used in the former City of North York for several years. This process requires two road graders on each plow route to be equipped with ‘snow-rid’ blades. The graders travel in tandem through their respective routes and as the first grader clears the road; the second grader follows to push snow back to the curb and uses the ‘snow-rid’ hydraulic arm on the end of the plow to temporarily block snow from falling off the end of the blade as it passes each private driveway. As the ‘snow-rid’ blades are somewhat susceptible to damage and/or breakdowns, it is important that both graders are equipped with the blades to make them interchangeable in the event the ‘snow-rid’ fails on one of the graders. The grader clearing the ends of driveways usually travels at a slower rate of speed due to the extra care required to clear as much of the windrow as possible while not causing any damage to the driveway apron. As a result, there is additional time required to clear the local road network, however, there is no time delay between the clearing of the street and the removal of the windrow.

Both the Region and the Town utilize combination sander/plow units to achieve a 24/7 bare pavement service level on arterial and collector roads throughout the winter season. In order to perform driveway windrow clearing for homes on these roads additional contracted equipment, similar to the type identified in Option 2, will be required to provide this service.

Option 2 – Additional contracted equipment such as 4x4 pick-ups, loaders, etc.

This process is currently used throughout areas of Toronto as well as the City of Vaughan. The process requires additional contracted equipment hired exclusively for the purpose of clearing windrows from the ends of driveways. Generally an additional 4x4 or loader is assigned to the same route as each of our winter graders to follow behind and clear the end of each driveway as the grader clears each street. This option does not impact the grader’s ability to clear roads within the time frames established for local road level of service. The additional equipment would have difficulty keeping up with each grader causing the lag time between the plowing of the road and the clearing of the windrow to increase as the grader progressed through the designated route. The Operations Department anticipates that all driveway windrows would be cleared within 4 hours following the completion of the plowing of the roads.

Limited snow storage

The narrow lot frontages on wide corners severely restricts snow storage areas between driveways (see Attachment ‘A’) which would make it impractical to clear the entire driveway without specialized equipment to possibly dump the snow at open boulevard areas along the street, or alternatively load and haul snow at great expense. The reasonable solution would be to only clear approximately 75% of the driveway opening and use the remaining space for storage. Some homeowners may not consider this an equitable solution considering others on the street may receive 100% windrow clearing for their respective driveways. In addition, obstructions caused by vehicles parked on the street may severely restrict an equipment operator’s ability to clear windrows and/or further reduce snow storage areas.

Service on rear lanes

Limited snow storage again is an issue when considering this type of service for rear lanes. The Operations Department’s current practice is to use loaders to plow and remove snow from rear lanes as accumulations require. There are occasions when the snow is simply plowed to the sides (in front of garages) as opposed to complete removal. If we were to consider windrow clearing for rear lanes then we would likely revert to utilizing loaders to clear and remove snow after each and every snowfall of 8 cm or more.

Damage to ‘private’ property

Several homeowners have invested a great deal of money into landscape features within the boulevard area including patterned concrete, unit pavers, and driveway borders for the portion of the private driveway within the boulevard area of the road allowance. There is great potential for damage to these types of landscape features when clearing windrows from the ends of private residential driveways.

Customer service – resident’s concerns

Operations staff contacted the City of Vaughan to discuss their windrow clearing program. The city staff identified all of the factors listed above as issues they are constantly dealing with throughout the winter season.

Since the implementation of this program in 1999/2000, calls to the city have more than doubled during winter storms with most residents raising concerns with respect to the level of service provided, both the time required to clear snow as well as relatively small portions of the windrow left in the driveway. Vaughan staff advised that they are currently clearing windrows within approximately 3 to 4 hours following the plowing of the local roads (similar to Town’s current service level for senior’s driveways). The city’s staff advised that in order to provide timely response to many of the concerns raised, the City’s operations staff are forced to dispatch additional in-house equipment to address some of these problems

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Estimated cost of Town wide program

The table in Attachment ‘B’ of this report includes cost estimates for various options to provide windrow clearing services for the Town. The Operations Department used data from the 2004/2005 winter maintenance program (as of March 15^th, 2005) when preparing these estimates.

During our discussions the staff at the City of Vaughan further advised that as Vaughan struggles to find the funding balance between maintenance programs and capital improvement/rehabilitation projects, this particular program continues to be identified as one that could possibly be discontinued in favour of increasing spending on road and bridge capital infrastructure programs.

This report has been submitted for information only as requested by Council. The financial considerations outlined in this report should be carried forward for Budget discussion in the Fall.

Windrow Clearing Service Delivery	Pros	Cons	Cost Estimate Based on 2004/2005 winter season
Status quo – no charge to seniors as well as ‘user pay’ service.	Program addresses the needs of our Seniors and physically challenged	Increased administration efforts to manage the list of approved Seniors.	As of March 1^st the Town has plowed the local road network 8 times through the 2004/2005 winter season. 1,200 driveways @ $6.50 each x 8 occurrences = $62,400
	Provides option for homeowner to participate in ‘user pay’ program.	Town ‘competing’ with service levels provided in neighbouring municipalities.
	Low cost to provide service	Residents are not satisfied with current level of service.
	Low risk of liability for damage to private property	Generally some lag time (2 to 4 hours) between clearing of road and driveway windrows

Windrow Clearing Service Delivery	Pros	Cons	Cost Estimate Based on 2004/2005 winter season
Option 1 – additional graders with ‘snow-rid’ blades	Program addresses windrow clearing needs of all residents	Program may not meet high expectation of complete windrow removal	34 additional graders equipped with ‘snow-rids’ Standby – 34 graders @ $100/day x 138 days = $469,200 Operating – 34 graders @ $200/hour x 18 hours x 8 occurrences = $979,200 Additional operating time (existing graders) 34 graders @ $125/hour x 4 hours x 8 occurrences $136,000 Total estimated cost $1,584,400
	Generally improves customer service and satisfaction	High cost to provide service. Majority of residents would not agree to tax increase to receive this service.
	No lag time between clearing of road and driveway windrows	High risk of damage to private property (interlock driveways and landscape features)
	Elimination of Seniors program will reduce program administration demands	Due to current contract Town may not have authority to implement until 2006/2007
		Challenge for Town to secure additional 34 graders to provide this service.
Option 2 – additional snow clearing equipment	Program addresses windrow clearing needs of all residents	Program may not meet high expectation of complete windrow removal	34 additional pieces of equipment (4x4’s, loaders, etc.) Standby – 34 units @ $100/day x 138 days = $469,200 Operating – 34 units @ $150/hour x 18 hours x 8 occurrences = $734,400 Total estimated cost $1,203,600

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment ‘A’ – Orthophoto of typical narrow lot frontages on wide corner

Peter Loukes, P.Eng. Director, Operations and Asset Management

Jim Sales Commissioner, Community and Fire Services

Q:\Commission Share\Operations and Asset Management\Reports\2005\Roads - Driveway Window.doc

ATTACHMENT ‘A’

Q:\Commission Share\Operations and Asset Management\Reports\2005\Roads - Driveway Windrow.doc