{"id":9546,"date":"2025-12-12T17:07:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T21:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=9546"},"modified":"2025-12-12T17:07:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T21:07:21","slug":"queens-adopts-first-ever-winter-maintenance-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2025\/12\/12\/queens-adopts-first-ever-winter-maintenance-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens adopts first-ever winter maintenance policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_9557\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9557\" class=\"size-large wp-image-9557\" src=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/pexels-sejio402-29210013-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/pexels-sejio402-29210013-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/pexels-sejio402-29210013-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/pexels-sejio402-29210013-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/pexels-sejio402-29210013-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-9557\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Region of Queens adopted a winter maintenance policy this week. (Photo by Sergei Starostin via Pexels)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Region of Queens has a snowplowing policy for the first time.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThis ensures municipal transportation infrastructure, roads, sidewalks and facilities are managed effectively during snow, ice and other winter conditions, while providing consistent, transparent and a measurable level of service throughout the community,\u201d Adam Grant, director of infrastructure, told councillors at their regular meeting this week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cEstablishing this policy will provide clarity for staff as winter maintenance is provided, while also providing clear expectation to residents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The region is responsible for snow clearing mostly in Liverpool and some parts of Milton. Nova Scotia\u2019s Department of Public Works looks after everything else.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The winter maintenance policy details priority areas and response times.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/wintermaintenancereportdec925.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MORE DETAIL HERE ON EXPECTED RESPONSE TIMES<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For example, at the top of the list are roads and sidewalks leading to the municipal public works garage, Hillsview Acres Home for Special Care in Greenfield, Queens Place Emera Centre, the municipal administration building and Liverpool Business Development Centre on White Point Road and the Queens Waste Management Facility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then it\u2019s collector roads and sidewalks downtown, including the main parking lot and spots on Main Street. Local roads and sidewalks are next, with municipal waste collection sites, otherwise known as grey boxes, dry hydrants, Pine Grove Park, Queens Ground Search and Rescue and the Astor Theatre as lower priority areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_9551\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snowclearingmapdec25.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9551\" class=\"wp-image-9551 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snowclearingmapdec25-copy-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snowclearingmapdec25-copy-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snowclearingmapdec25-copy-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snowclearingmapdec25-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/snowclearingmapdec25-copy-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-9551\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Click on the map for a larger image (Region of Queens)<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The service standard is to have all roads, sidewalks and parking areas accessible within 48 hours after a storm. But some areas have six-hour or 12-hour targets. For example, the goal on main roads is to have both lanes cleared to bare asphalt within 12 hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Grant stressed that municipal crews begin their work as quickly as possible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cSo when you look at the time, post-storm, whether it&#8217;s six hours, 12, or 48, that doesn&#8217;t mean that we&#8217;re waiting six hours to start,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It&#8217;s likely to assume that it would be completed in a shorter period of time. It just sets out a priority for us as what we tackle first, second, third, fourth, achieving always to try to have zero as the response time for residents to experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some councillors were concerned that the service standard for clearing out dry hydrants is 48 hours after a storm.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">District 6 Coun. Stewart Jenkins said he wants to see a stricter standard for maintaining those areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI can\u2019t believe we would wait two days after a snowstorm to clean out fire services\u2019 access to their dry hydrants. I think that\u2019s a misstep and it should be done sooner than that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Grant said that crews usually get to those areas pretty quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe generally start dry hydrants probably 12 hours after a storm\u2019s end and we work on them routinely overnight and the next day and they\u2019re typically cleaned up within 24 hours,&#8221; he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;And I guess what this outlines is that if we can&#8217;t accomplish that within 48 hours, then we need to revisit the resources and the level of service that we&#8217;re trying to achieve, then make sure that there&#8217;s that balance in there. But in no way are we intending to not maintain dry hydrants in a timely manner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">He also pointed out that fire departments can call municipal crews in emergency situations and they\u2019ll respond immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mayor Scott Christian also wanted to ensure that downtown streets and sidewalks are accessible as early as possible for those with mobility challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Manager of Public Works Garrett Chetwynd said main sidewalks are usually passable pretty quickly after a storm after the sidewalk plow goes through. Crews have to use shovels and other hand tools to get to the bare sidewalk, and the crosscuts (the sloped area that joins the sidewalk with the road) would be clear within 12 hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re not touched at all,&#8221; Chetwynd said. &#8220;When our sidewalk plow goes through, it\u2019s clear just not to that bare sidewalk. It&#8217;s very difficult to navigate that changing slope and terrain as you get through with the machine.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Councillors approved the new policy at their meeting on Tuesday. Christian said that staff and council could make tweaks to it if necessary as the season progresses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Email: <a href=\"mailto:rickconradqccr@gmail.com\">rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-9546-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/queenssnowclearingpolicydec1225.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/queenssnowclearingpolicydec1225.mp3\">https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/queenssnowclearingpolicydec1225.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Region of Queens has a snowplowing policy for the first time. \u201cThis ensures municipal transportation infrastructure, roads, sidewalks and facilities are managed effectively during snow, ice and other winter conditions, while providing consistent, transparent and a measurable level of service throughout the community,\u201d Adam Grant, director of infrastructure, told councillors at their regular meeting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[39,3650,49,24,1756,3647,3653,3652,3648,3654,3649,3651],"class_list":["post-9546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-liverpool","tag-plowing","tag-queens-county","tag-region-of-queens","tag-sidewalks","tag-snow","tag-snow-plow","tag-snow-storms","tag-storms","tag-streets","tag-winter","tag-winter-maintenance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9546"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9558,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9546\/revisions\/9558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}