Snow Removal Operations

The City of Bathurst’s Snow and Ice Control Program strives to maintain the safety of its transportation network, including vehicle access and active transportation such as walking or cycling, allowing users to function as normally as possible under adverse weather conditions.

Snow removal operations include the following elements:

• roadway clearing and widening;
• sidewalk clearing;
• pushing back snow banks;
• pushing bank snow from corners to address sight restrictions;
• clearing fire hydrants;
• clearing right-of-ways;
• moving snow to snow dumps.

The City has two designated Emergency routes (see image below), with the mandate to keep them, if possible, bare-surface and full-width at all times. Snow clearing operations are maintained until no longer safe to do so due to poor visibility.

In the event a storm is severe enough to stop plowing on the Emergency Run, plow operators remain on standby for emergency services should emergency vehicles (first responders) need to access a certain road. 

The remaining seven routes are cleared by local contractors on a call-in basis.

Sidewalks in heavy pedestrian areas, the priority being school zones and the downtown business district, are scraped and sanded as needed in order to maintain as a safe a walking condition as possible.

Cleanup of all streets and sidewalks begins once a storm has ended, or reached an accumulation triggering the need to start cleaning up side streets, which is about 3 inches (8 centimeters).

Streets : 

• 0” – 6” accumulation, 8 hours after the storm has ended;
• 7” – 24” accumulation, 16 hours after the storm has ended.

Sidewalks :

• 0” – 6” accumulation, 8 hours after the storm has ended;
• 7” – 12” accumulation, 16 hours after the storm has ended;
• 13” + accumulation, More than 16 hours after the storm has ended.

Residents can assist City staff in their cleanup work following these tips:

• Don’t push/place snow on streets or sidewalks;
  
• Keep garbage containers out of harms way, at least 1 metre (3 feet) away from the roadway or sidewalk.;
• Park vehicles off street, well into driveway (refer to Paragraph 29 of By-Law 2011-07).;
• Mark and protect hedges and fences;
  
• Keep catch basins near property clear; 
  
• Drive according to the winter conditions.;
• Wear winter footwear. Safety first.;
• Watch where your children play – snowbanks are not a good place to build forts or slide down.

Snow removal in priority areas usually takes place overnight, as needed, after snow accumulation. Crews work from midnight to the early morning, pushing back snow banks and loading snow into dump trucks for transport to City snow dumping locations.

Identified priority areas:

• Main Street, 100-200 blocks
• King Avenue, 100-200 blocks
• Cunard Street
• Douglas Avenue

When needed, snow removal operations are also activated on other City roadways.