Sand Bare Pavement
April 20 2015
Shannon Hunter
CAO North Kawartha
Re: Winter Road Maintenance Standards- The Sand Job!
This is further to my letter to you of Mar 20th including questions A B & C and your same day response to the specific questions.
My Letter PART #1
Question A
Your response indicated that the townships level of road services is based on Township Road Bylaw 10/99 and Ministry’s Minimum Maintenance Standards which I have now reviewed and respond as follows:
The Township Road Bylaw 10/99 was passed in March 1999 by the Township of Burleigh Anstruther and Chandos, after amalgamation but prior to the municipality being renamed North Kawartha. This bylaw is in need of updating. The road classifications in this bylaw conflict with the Peterborough County Road Department’s understandings of road classifications. One example is the County has advised me recently that County Road #52/Jack Lake Road is Class 4 whereas township bylaw appears to indicate M5 in their bylaw. Possibly this township road bylaw in fact preceded the County taking over responsibility for certain roads in the Apsley area from the Township and Province.
Back to the real issue of me questioning who decides to sand a dusting of snow and ploughing minimum accumulations of snow.
Township Bylaw 10/99 section 2.3 Snowfall Accumulation specifies the allowed accumulation of snow on a road way as being maximum 15cm ( 6”) and provides for a maximum lag time of 1 day for a class M5 road which applies to Jack Lake Road near FR 52 where I previously provided these included pictures.
According to Township Bylaw 10/99 section 2.5 Localized Snow should be removed within a maximum lag time of 2 working days and max 30 cm is allowed ( 12”) for a class M5 roads which applies to Jack lake Road near FR 52.
So obviously, the in effect by township road bylaw 10/99 does not set a maintenance standard which would require the either ploughing of 1” of snow on Saturday Mar 21 or sanding a dusting of snow on Sunday Mar 22
So let’s look at The Minimum Maintenance Standards for Municipal Highways Ontario Regulation 239/02
According to the Provincial Minimum standards regulation, resources are to be deployed to reduce the snow to a depth less than or equal to 10 cm ( 4”) for a class 5 roads.
So in accordance with BOTH the township’s road bylaw and provincial standards there is no requirement to
• Plough 1 “ of snow on a Class 5 Roads
• Sand dusting of snow on Class 5 Road
I am satisfied that my previously express concerns regarding excessive winter road maintenance cannot be justified by any Council member or township management staff based on in effect township bylaws or provincial regulations.
My Letter Part #2A
In the Council agenda for the Mar 16 2015, the township road superintendent made referenced REGULATION requiring the township to perform a road patrol once per shift through winter season from Oct 15 to April 15 and I requested and you provided me with a copy of the Regulation and classification of the section of Jack Lake from Marina to FR 52. You advise me that this road is classified as M5 and directed me to the Provincial Minimum Standards which I have reviewed.
In my letter to you of Mar 22, I did question the report of the Road superintendent indicating what appear to be ridiculous that “ ….Regulations required us to perform a road patrol once per shift through the winter season which runs from October 15 to April 15” Therefore we have to hire patrol man to perform this duty to meet the regulation.
According to the provincial regulations, the minimum frequency of patrolling a Class 5 highway is once every 30 days. Reference Table 3(1) of the regulations you provided.
The only reference I have been able to find to a performance requirement from Oct to April is under section 3.1 Weather monitoring. In this section, from October 1 to April 30, the minimum standard is to monitor weather, both current and forecasted to occur in the next 24 hours, is once per shift or three time per calendar day………”
Your township bylaw section 1.10 Road Surface General Inspection indicate that roadway authority is obligated to know the condition of its roadways and sets out criteria for inspections. Under ambient conditions a M5 roads should be inspected at maximum cycle of 1 month and under storm conditions maximum cycle is 1 week. So with proper understanding of our own township road maintenance bylaw we may not need to hire a patrol man. I would assume road patrols are included in the job descriptions of existing roads department staff.
So in accordance with township road bylaw and provincial standards
• Township does not need to hire a patrol man to patrol our roads each shift between Oct 15 to April 15
Conclusion
The stated patrol, requirement and excessive winter maintenance practices cannot be justified based on current township laws and provincial regulations
We must find the appropriate level of service base on practical economics and sound risk management practices taking into account and being guided by best practices of other are municipalities.
The existing township winter road maintenance practices significantly exceed township and provincial requirements , and can best be described as the GOLD STANDARDS, which are not in my opinion sustainable.
Ambrose Moran