January 16 and 17, 2022 Major Snow Event, Post-Operational Report

Preparations for the January storm began with proactive communications and a pre-treatment of salt brine on expressways, select major arterial roads, hills and bridges. Salting and plowing operations commenced as the snow began to fall and continued with numerous rounds on all roads and sidewalks. A Significant Weather Event and Major Snow Storm Condition was declared from 18:00 on January 17 until 18:00 on February 16 to assist crews with snow clearing, including removal of 180,000 tonnes of snow from streets, sidewalks and bicycle paths. The removal alone cost more than $17 million, or almost 20 percent of the winter maintenance budget for Transportation Services. None of the existing Council-approved service levels accounts for extreme weather events, and therefore the levels do not set a feasible response time for a storm of the magnitude experienced in January. In addition, a number of challenges were experienced as a result of the storm including supporting the immediate needs of emergency services, digging out Toronto Transit Commission vehicles, strain on equipment, manual clearing to avoid infrastructure and property damage, logistics of removing and relocating the volume of snow as quickly as possible, some contractor issues and communicating service levels and response times. Following an external winter maintenance review in 2019 and a 2020 Winter Road Maintenance Program Audit, Transportation Services has implemented changes and improvements to existing and future service provision. Nonetheless, the January 16-17 winter storm highlighted the need for continuous improvement including the development of an Extreme Winter Weather Response Plan with new service levels.