The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, November 28, 2013 | 8 www.oakville.ca www.oakville.ca The Town of Oakville is ready for another season. Armed with plows, sand and salt, our crews are ready to clear your roads and sidewalks as quickly and effectively as possible. Q: Why are some roads totally bare within days after a snowfall but my road is still snow covered? Primary and secondary roads are salted and plowed first in order to achieve bare pavement due to higher traffic volumes and higher speeds, and to provide town-wide access for emergency service vehicles. Snow pack conditions can be expected periodically on residential roads during the winter. Q: Why don't all roads have a bare pavement level of service? To achieve bare pavement, salt must be applied at the onset of snow so that a layer of salt brine is maintained between the road surface and accumulating snow (to prevent bonding). In order to provide this level of service to residential roads, significant increases in equipment and salt would be required, with increased costs and environmental impact. The town as well as other Canadian road agencies are required to have a Salt Management Plan to manage salt use and minimize environmental impacts. It would be very unusual for a municipality subject to winter climate conditions, such as Oakville, to consider a snow-packed road surface as unacceptable for local residential roads. Q: What is "snow pack"? The snow pack is hard-packed snow on a roadway. It is the condition that can be expected periodically on residential roads. Snow pack develops very quickly as vehicles travel on snow-covered roads. Snow plows are not able to scrape off snow pack as it is usually bonded to the pavement. Although bumpy at times, vehicles typically navigate snow pack quite easily. Under snow pack conditions, some rutting can be expected. The town will take steps to improve conditions when warranted. Q: When can I expect my sidewalk to be cleared? Sidewalks are cleared after snow accumulates in excess of five centimetres (two inches), and only after roads are cleared. Sidewalks on primary and secondary roads with schools are plowed first, followed by residential sidewalks. Sidewalk clearing is generally completed within 48 hours after the end of the storm; however, when we have a heavy snowfall, or successive winter events back to back, it will take longer to clear all sidewalks. Q: Why does my lawn get damaged when the sidewalk plow goes by? While operators strive to minimize sod damage, some degree of damage is inevitable. Sidewalk plows are required to be large machines in order to effectively plow deep snow, when needed. Unfortunately, this makes them less forgiving to operate on sidewalks. Deep or drifted snow conditions often completely hide the sidewalk edge. When sod is frozen, damage is minimized; however, when sod is not frozen, it lifts away very easily and damage can be extensive. Often, the sod removed is overgrowth growing onto the sidewalk. To report sod damage, please call ServiceOakville at 905-845-6601 during regular business hours (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.). Town staff will review the damage and make repairs as weather permits. Some repairs may be scheduled for spring when new sod is available. Q: Why does the snow plow leave a windrow to block my driveway? Plow operators do not intentionally block driveways. With over 55,000 driveways, it is not practical for plow operators to lift their blades at every driveway. The plow operator also has limited control over the amount and direction of snow that comes off the plow. When clearing your driveway, try to pile the snow on the right side (standing in your driveway and looking towards the street). This can help reduce the amount of snow that is pushed onto your driveway when a snow plow passes. The town does not clear driveways. For more information on snow clearing visit www.oakville.ca or call the snow line at 905-815-5999. Neighbourhood Rinks For a list of neighbourhood outdoor rinks visit www.oakville.ca and search for "outdoor ice rinks."