Item - 2024.IE15.3

The General Manager, Transportation Services recommends that City Council:

1. Endorse in principle the development of the Major Snow Event Response Plan as outlined in this report.

2. Confirm the proposed updated levels of service beginning in 2024 - 2025 winter season for the winter maintenance of cycling facilities as outlined in Attachment 2.

3. Allow for advanced notification of a “major snow storm condition” and approve the amendments to City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking, generally as outlined in Attachment 5 to the report (June 18, 2024) from the General Manager, Transportation Services.

4. Amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 937, Temporary Closing of Highways, to delegate to the General Manager, Transportation Services, the authority to temporarily close to vehicular traffic any highway or portion of highway for up to and including 24 hours for each and any individual temporary closure between November 8 of one year and April 7, inclusive, of the following year, despite Section 937-4 of Chapter 937, as required for the purposes of snow removal operations, and City Council exempt the General Manager, Transportation Services, in carrying out this delegated authority from Section 937-5 of Chapter 937, that being the requirement to notify the local Ward Councillor of the pending closure and the requirement to report on the proposed closure if so requested by the local Ward Councillor.

5. Amend City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 27, Council Procedures, to provide that the current delegation to Community Council to temporarily close public lanes or public alleys, local roads, collector roads, and minor arterial roads, does not include closures delegated to the General Manager, Transportation Services, in carrying out the authority in Recommendation 4 above.

6.  Authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary bills to give effect to City Council’s decision and City Council authorize the City Solicitor to make any necessary clarifications, refinements, minor modifications, technical amendments, or by-law amendments as may be identified by the City Solicitor, in consultation with the General Manager, Transportation Services, in order to give effect to Recommendations 3 to 5, inclusive, above.

This is the first in a planned annual cycle of reporting on winter operations from the previous season and updating about improvements for the upcoming winter season. This is a new commitment that will provide better transparency on the Transportation Services Division's performance for winter operations and provide insights around operational efforts and efficiencies.

This report provides the first Annual Winter Maintenance update for the 2023 - 2024 winter season and outlines improvements being planned for the 2024 - 2025 winter season operations, including pilot testing, training, improved contract administration, and community events.

The final section of this report is an update on advancements to the Major Snow Event Response Plan, formerly known as the Extreme Winter Weather Plan. The Major Snow Event Response Plan addresses weather events which result in significant snow accumulation beyond what Toronto typically experiences. This accumulation creates obstructions in the right of way, primarily due to insufficient space to store the snow at roadsides and in boulevards. Storms of this magnitude have a much greater impact on the transportation infrastructure, and by extension on the public, and such events cannot be fully addressed within the Council-approved levels of service for a normal snowfall. The renaming to "Major Snow Event Response Plan" instead of "Extreme Winter Weather Plan" reflects that this plan does not address the full range of extreme winter weather (e.g. ice storms, flash flooding, etc.) which are more effectively addressed under Toronto Emergency Management's Extreme Winter Weather Coordination Plan.

Developments on the Major Snow Event Response Plan includes a Vision, Guiding Principles, Prioritization Framework, updated processes to action the Framework, and a Communication Plan. This Plan will be a dynamic document, with review and updates after each new major snow event to iteratively drive continuous improvement.  Next action items for staff will be to develop new priority route maps, assign updated snow removal operations for contractors and in-house staff, and create a formal communication plan to proactively inform the general public during a storm regarding timelines and removal operations.

This report seeks approval to make amendments to the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 950, Traffic and Parking, as it relates to "major snow storm conditions", including when they can be declared.

In addition, the report requests City Council to amend the City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 937, Temporary Closing of Highways, as well as City of Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 27, Council Procedures, in order to delegate to the General Manager, Transportation Services, the authority to temporarily close to vehicular traffic any highway or portion of highway to facilitate efficient snow removal operations. Any temporary road closures under this proposed delegated authority will be for up to and including 24 hours for each and any individual temporary closure between November 8 of one year and April 7, inclusive, of the following year.  

Transportation Services confirms that there are no financial implications resulting from the recommendations included in this report.

The Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.