Winter Roads & Maintenance

The Town sidewalk plows clear about 150 km of Ajax’s 400 km of sidewalk.  This cleanup starts at the same time as road snow clearing operations begin.  While it is snowing the Town will clear all primary sidewalks first. These are the sidewalks are along Regional Roads and main Town roads.  It can take up to 16 hours to complete and if snow continues to fall it can take longer.

Businesses and residents responsibilities:
It is important for residents and business to understand their responsibilities and possible fines associated with sidewalks. 

Businesses and Residents are responsible for clearing the sidewalks in front of their business/house within 24 hours after a snow fall or ice forming. Fines for not clearing the snow or ice within 24 hours can be found in our User Fees By-law. These fines will be applied automatically to your property taxes. 

The Town’s goal is to put the safety of everyone first! So, what does that exactly mean while it is snowing?

The Town is responsible for maintaining over 400 km roads, 150 km sidewalks, 37 km trails, 27 parking lots and 53 school crossings.

How the Town Manages the Flow of Snow

Primary Roads
While it is snowing the Town will clear all primary roads first. These are the roads that provide access to Regional Roads, schools, community centers and industrial/commercial areas.

Secondary Roads 
The Town will then move on to secondary roads. These roads feed primary and tiertiary roads. Some of these roads include Ravenscroft, Williamson, Burcher, Monarch and Clover Ridge.

Tertiary Roads
The Town will focus on tertiary roads (residential streets), sidewalks/trails and parking lots.

If/When Snow Continues to Fall
During prolonged weather events, the Town routinely focuses every effort to ensure that all roads’ classifications are addressed in a timely manner, however the Town may need to shift the response to address primary roads and secondary roads. It is these roads that carry the most traffic volumes as well as required artery for all emergency vehicles who may be responding to an emergency call.

As you can imagine, the amount of work that goes into any winter event is pretty big. Your patience and understanding is always appreciated. 

Please note: Applicants will be added to the program within seven days of your application being processed. 

• Residents 65 years of age or older, with no able bodied persons under the age of 65 residing at this address. Or;
• Unable to do the work due to a physical disability, as indicated by a doctor’s note

For more information and pricing or to apply for the program download form below, or contact Operations & Environmental Services at 905-683-2951, Monday to Friday, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The Town of Ajax provides essential snow clearing services before, during and after a snowfall, including maintaining roads, sidewalks, trails, emergency access roads, parking lots and school crossings.

It is important for home/property owners to understand their responsibilities versus Town responsibilities. Windrow clearing is the responsibility of the home/property owner.

Have a question about windrows? Please view our frequently asked questions below or download our windrow infographic. 

What is a windrow?

A windrow is the row of snow left at the bottom of a driveway after the snowplow has cleared the road.

How are windrows formed and are they avoidable?

Roadways snowplows are designed to move snow from the travelled portion of the road towards the right side of the road. As the snow is moved from left to right it is deposited in a long narrow pile along the right edge of the road, this pile of snow is commonly referred to as a “windrow”. Roads must be plowed in a manner that is efficient and timely to make them safe for road users, windrows will always occur when snow is plowed in this manner.

Can’t the operator just lift their plow to avoid putting snow in my driveway?

Driveway windrows cannot be avoided by raising or lowering the front plow or side “wing” plow on the plow truck, doing this would leave snow deposited on the travelled portion of the road which is unsafe for road users.

Why doesn’t the driver place the snow on the boulevard between my driveway and my neighbours driveway?

Roadway snowplows are large vehicles with limited maneuverability and are not able to place snow safely or efficiently in areas where space is limited and unsafe maneuvers such as reversing or sharp turns are required. Additionally, roadway snowplow blades are wider than the space between many residential driveways.

Why can’t the plow carry all of the snow up the street to an empty boulevard?

Roadway snowplows are designed to efficiently move snow off the travelled portion of the road from left to right, attempting to move an entire street’s worth of snow to one area would require many passes and reversing, would be extremely inefficient, unsafe and would not totally eliminate windrows.

I live on a corner, and I receive a bigger windrow than my neighbours who don’t live on a corner?

Driveways located near intersections and wider areas where the road bends usually have slightly more snow left in front of houses because there is a larger area of roadway and more snow that needs to be cleared.

Has the Town investigated the feasibility for a Town windrow clearing service?

In 2019, Ajax Council directed staff to examine the possibility of providing windrow clearing services as part of the Town’s winter response program and to report our findings back to the appropriate committee of Council.

Review full windrow clearing report here.

Report highlights:

• There are over 30,000 residential driveways in Ajax.
• Windrow clearing is not as effective as may be expected as only 80% of the driveway width may be cleared to accommodate a single car width and some snow will remain in the driveway due to the nature of the equipment.
• On street parking that obstructs the clearing of the snow from the end of the driveway on the initial response would not be cleared and would be not serviced at a later time.
• During heavy snow events, the plow blade becomes less effective resulting in spillage and significantly reduced snow storage space.
• Snow storage availability is very limited in newer communities where narrow lots reduce available space.
• A town-wide program would require additional supervision, communications and administrative support to oversee the service and address inquiries and complaints.
• The estimated annual costs to deliver this enhanced winter program in 2019 was over $1,800,000.00