Snow Clearing

The City of St. John's receives 335 cm of snow on average every year. We budget approximately $20 million for snow clearing and ice control operations.

City staff work hard to clear our streets and sidewalks to standards approved by Council. Our standards are like other cities with weather conditions comparable to ours. We salt and plow streets and designated sidewalks in a priority order based on commuter volumes. Our top priority is to ensure emergency vehicle access for the greatest number of residents.

Please note: It is a violation of Section 163.3 of the Highway Traffic Act to throw or push snow into the street. Residents are expected to pile snow on their own property.

In winter, our parking restrictions are in place to make sure plows can clear our streets safely and effectively. Streets may be scheduled for snow removal throughout the season.

Contact Access St. John's about snow clearing issues.

Live in or visit the downtown? Find out about downtown snow removal restrictions.

Winter Operations

We have three methods for clearing snow on City streets and sidewalks: 

Anti-icing

In preparation for a freezing or snowfall event, we apply road salt or liquid brine on designated roads and sidewalks. This helps to prevent standing water from freezing, delays snow accumulation and prevents snow and ice from bonding to the surface of the pavement. This minimizes the occurrence of hard-packed snow. Anti-icing makes it easier to clear accumulated snow and results in a safer travelling surface.

Plowing

During a snow event, City plows push snow to the sides of the street (and designated sidewalks). Any areas that have iced over, or where snow has become hard-packed, will receive more applications of salt. Plowing typically begins when there is 3-5cm of snow on the ground. It continues until all streets are plowed. This can last up to 24 hours after snowfall ends, depending on the severity of the winter event.

Find out more about what roads and sidewalks are plowed first.

Where's My Plow?

Widening

Once a snowfall event is over and all driving lanes are open, City staff begin to widen streets. Street widening is also completed in priority order.

Methods

1. Pushback is our preferred and quickest method. This involves plows pushing any snow remaining in the roadway all the way to the edge of the road. Operations use trucks, loaders, and graders for push-back.

2. If there is a lot of snow or if the snow is dense or frozen and snowbanks at the edge of the road are already too high, pushback operations may not be possible. Staff use large loader-mounted snow blowers to blow the snow outside the roadway - sometimes onto residential lawns. This is a slow-moving operation. More snow means a delay in blowback operations.

3. There are areas of the City where there is minimal room for snow storage. Once enough snow has accumulated in these areas it needs to be completely removed. This is typically done overnight. All vehicles need to be off the street. A crew of 25 or more heavy equipment operators gather all snow in the street, load it into trucks and bring it to the City's snow disposal site at Robin Hood Bay. Snow removal typically occurs in the downtown core, but any part of the city can be identified for snow removal if necessary.

Frequently Asked Questions about Snow Clearing

We commonly get questions about the following topics. If your question is not here, email Access St. John's or call 311 or 709-754-CITY (2489).