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City crews are working hard to make sure Charlottetown residents are able to travel safely this winter.
Here you’ll find some information on how the Public Works Department prioritizes its street and sidewalk clearing.
The City asks the public for its cooperation and patience.

Winter Parking Ban

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

These are key hours for plowing and hauling and illegally parked cars can slow down operations significantly. Charlottetown Police officers generally use discretion and don’t ticket if the weather is clear. Weather conditions can change quickly, so don’t leave your vehicle and risk getting ticketed and/or towed. Vehicles with residential parking permits are not exempt from the ban.

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

Street Clearing

The Number 1 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 where the snow’s been piled. Most of the hauling is done at night when there aren’t as many cars around.

The plows hit the streets as soon as two centimetres of snow has accumulated and they’ll stay out until they make their last pass when the snow has stopped. In some severe storms with zero visibility that endanger drivers, 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 and sidewalks are not always cleared at the same time. The City recognizes the importance of pedestrian safety, but because sidewalk clearing takes longer and uses more resources, clearing will sometimes be delayed until the end of the snowfall.

The City of Charlottetown strives to be a full-service provider in clearing all of the City’s sidewalks using City staff and contractors. Routes are mapped out depending on the timing of the storm, if it’s a school day, school zone sidewalks are top priority. If school is cancelled or it’s a weekend, the priority shifts to shopping or church areas.

A route begins with the top priority areas then works its way down the list. If it keeps snowing before the section is finished, the plow heads back to priority areas again before completing the circuit.

Snow Hauling

The City will provide public notice of snow hauling.

Hauling in the downtown is a priority and then radiates out. For a 15-25 cm snowstorm, it takes two to three cycles of the 16-hour night/day hauling (without equipment failure) to clean it all up.

Hauling is done during set hours so as to have minimal interference with business and traffic downtown. The window between the end of plowing and beginning of hauling depends on the severity of the storm. 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 shape, keeping traffic flowing and 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 hauled between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. For safety reasons, there may be temporary street closures as the windrows are blown into the truck.

WINTER OPERATION FAQ’s

Why not remove the snow when plowing the core area?
This would greatly increase the time required to provide the goal of having all streets open to travel and emergencies. The priority is to use equipment in plowing streets (multiple times 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 left a day?
If a snowfall stops late in the day and all streets have last pass in the evening, staff and equipment resources are able to start hauling at midnight and have more parking spots cleared by morning. If the snow stops falling in the early morning and it’s a regular business day, crews don’t mix hauling with high public traffic; so the first hauling cycle starts during the daylight hours and begins the next night.

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

Clearing emergency vehicle routes is the City’s first priority. Parking spots are cleared after that is done.

Why are sidewalks not cleared as well as streets?

The machines used to clear sidewalks aren’t as fast as street plows. Snow and ice doesn’t melt on sidewalks like it does on the black pavement which attracts the sun. 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 made it 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 earth 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.