There are no news items to display

City staff and contractors provide services to help Charlottetown residents travel safely in winter conditions. Here you’ll find some information on how the Public Works Department operates its street and sidewalk clearing services.

The City appreciates the public’s cooperation and patience during operations addressing winter weather.

General Conditions

Charlottetown is located in a climate that can experience winter weather from late November into April. Various operations are undertaken by the City to try and control the snow and ice on streets, sidewalks and public property; however the public must be aware of the winter conditions that will exist and accordingly take their own precautions.

The City has general operational procedures to address winter conditions and events. However, like the snowflakes, each winter event that occurs and the appropriate response to it can be slightly unique due to the many variables.

These factors can include:

• type(s) of perception, amount, duration, current temperature, forecast temperature, wind direction, wind speed
• time of day ending, day of week, date of season, previous events, expected future events
• depth of ground cover, frost penetration, equipment breakdowns, planned public events, cancelled regular events

Winter Parking Ban

Please remember on-street parking is prohibited between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. starting Nov. 15 to April 15.

These are key hours for snow hauling and parked cars can slow down operations significantly. Charlottetown City Police generally use discretion and don’t ticket if the weather is clear. However weather conditions can change quickly, so it would be best not to leave your vehicle on the street and risk getting ticketed and/or towed. Vehicles with residential parking permits are not exempt from the winter parking ban.

If your car has been towed, call Charlottetown Police at 629-4172. Tickets can be paid at Charlottetown City Hall, 99 Queen Street or online at https://secure.city.charlottetown.pe.ca/tpay/t_plate.php

Street Clearing

The main priority when clearing snow is to keep travelled portions of streets open during a storm, plowing to the side while the flakes are still falling, doing a “last pass” of all streets after the snow stops and then turning attention to hauling as needed from areas where the snow’s been piled. Most of the hauling is done at night when there isn’t as much traffic in the area.

The plows hit the streets as soon as two centimetres of snow has accumulated and they’ll stay out until making their last pass when the snow has stopped. In some severe storms with zero visibility that endangers operators, plows may be pulled off the roads. In this rare circumstance, City plows stand by the Fire stations to lead them on any emergency calls. Police and Ambulance services will also be escorted by plows in this situation.

Street plowing is divided into geographic areas with the focus of each section being arterial/collector streets within the boundaries so as to most effectively prioritize service to streets with the greatest benefit.

Sidewalk Clearing

Opening roads for emergency vehicle routes is the main priority during snow events and sidewalks are not always cleared at the exact same time. The City recognizes the importance of pedestrian safety, but because sidewalk clearing takes longer and uses additional resources, clearing will sometimes be delayed until the end of the snowfall. This is done so that initial efforts on sidewalks are not wasted with additional street work filling them in again.

The City of Charlottetown strives to be a full-service provider in clearing its full inventory of sidewalks using City staff and contractors. Standard routes are mapped out for geographic sections. Some attempt is made to address the timing of the storm: school areas on school days; if school is cancelled or it’s a weekend, the priority shifts to shopping or church areas. But it is unproductive to have routes that skip around rather than providing continuous plowing.

A section begins with the top priority areas then works its way along a route. If another snowfall event occurs before the section is finished, the plow heads back to priority areas again before completing the circuit.

Snow Hauling

The City will provide website notice of snow hauling.

Hauling in the downtown parking area is a priority and then radiates out. For a 15-25 cm snowstorm, it generally takes two to three cycles of a 16-hour night/day operation (without equipment failure) to remove most snow.

Hauling is done during set hours to have minimal interference with business and traffic downtown. The window between the end of snowfall plowing and beginning of hauling depends on the timing of weather. City crews start after 10 p.m. and pull the snow from the parking spots on both sides of the street into the middle, windrowing it in a boulevard style, letting traffic flow and having parking spots open.

The windrows of snow are then blown into trucks and hauled out of the core to snow storage areas. Most of the hauling is done overnight, but some windrows are still being hauled between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. For safety reasons, there may be temporary street closures as the windrows are blown into trucks.

Winter Operation FAQ’s

Why not remove the snow when plowing the core area?

This would greatly increase the time required to achieve the goal of having all streets open to travel and emergencies. The priority is to use equipment in plowing streets (multiple runs during longer events) as quickly as possible and then focus on clearing parking spaces.

Why does it seem some snowfalls are hauled immediately and some wait a day before starting?

If a snowfall stops late in the day and all streets have last pass in the evening, staff and equipment resources may be able to start hauling at midnight and have more parking spots cleared by morning. If the snow stops falling in the early morning, crews don’t start pull-out and hauling during the high public traffic period; so the first hauling cycle waits the day and starts in the evening.

Why is snow not hauled from parking areas 24-hrs a day?

Staffing and operational logistics lead to a having a short period of downtime in the early evenings to refresh the resources.

Why are sidewalks not cleared as well as streets?

The machines used to clear sidewalks don’t move as fast as street plows. Snow and ice doesn’t melt on sidewalks like it does on the dark pavement absorbing sunlight. Vehicle traffic on streets helps melt ice and snow but foot traffic packs it down, making it harder to remove.

Why not move parking meters to the back of the sidewalk to make it easier to clear parking spaces?

The City has tried this in the past, but it was more difficult to tell which meter was assigned to which angled parking space and merchants were concerned about meters blocking store doors and windows.

How are you supposed to get over snow left between on-street parking spaces and the sidewalk?

Some snow may be left at the edge of a parking spot near the curb because plow drivers have to be very careful not to damage curbs, parking meters, utility poles, etc. Disability Parking spots are cleared first.

Why does equipment breakdown at the start of the season?

Crews ready plow gear for each season, but the first time it’s used in real snow, bolts or hydraulic lines may fail under the pressure. The season’s first snowfall - which is usually heavy and wet - tends to reveal weak parts that weren’t visually obvious. Think of it as how your back feels after you shovel for the first time each winter.

Why did the plow rip up my front lawn?

Plow operators are attempting to accomplish many goals, often in adverse conditions. It is desired to have the plow blades scrape as close as possible to the street asphalt that slopes from centerline to edge, but not have the plow blade catch the grass. The plow is also attempting to push snow back off the paved surface to allow for full vehicle width and storage of snow in the next event. When frost has penetrated the ground in mid-winter, a plow blade may more easily bounce off the frozen surface. But in first snowfall or spring thaw conditions, the damage to edge of right-of-way can be more common.