Driveway opening - blocked by plowed snow - windrow - snow clearing required

A service request to report a residential driveway outside of the City core that has been blocked by a plowed snowbank (windrow) can be submitted online at: https://www.toronto.ca/311/ 

Where possible, the City opens snow windrows (3 metre opening) left by plows at the foot of residential driveway entrances.
Plows with special blades clear the openings of about 262,000 driveways.  

Note: Shared driveways have one 3 metre opening cleared.


Note: Streets with permit parking do not receive driveway/windrow clearing. For those streets that do receive driveway opening (windrow) clearing if there are cars parked at the bottom of the driveway then the windrow will not be cleared as the equipment cannot get in.

Local road plowing can take up to 14 hours to finish clearing residential streets, while driveway opening (windrow) clearing operations are performed by separate equipment that travels behind the plowing equipment. The actual time to complete driveway opening/windrow clearing will vary based on the length of a beat, snowfall accumulations, on-street parked vehicles, other potential obstructions, and local road conditions. Driveway/windrow clearing operations may generally be completed within two hours of roadway plowing ending, however, an actual service level time does not exist due to the many variables.

Wards that receive driveway windrow clearing service are shown below.

Driveway/windrow clearing in these wards will commence on local roads after each round of road plowing. There are some parts of the wards where windrow clearing is not feasible on certain streets due to narrow lots and the absence of boulevard space. Typically, these locations are within a new subdivision.

 

  • The driveway opening windrow clearing of 3 meters for eligible locations on local roads will commence after each round of local road snow plowing is activated
  • Driveway opening/windrow clearing for eligible locations on collector and arterial roads will commence at the final round of the roadway plowing when windrow heights exceed 25 cm.

 

North York District

  • Ward 6, York Centre
  • Ward 8, Eglinton-Lawrence
    • Please note: Driveway windrow clearing is not provided south of Briar Hill Ave.
  • Ward 15, Don Valley West
    • Please note: Driveway windrow clearing is not provided for the following streets:
      • Bayview Heights Dr. – Bayview Ave. to Moorehill Dr.
      • Eglinton Ave. E. to Kilgour Rd, Bayview Ave. east to ward limit (with exception to Bessborough Dr. – Eglinton Ave. E. to Glenvale Blvd)
      • McCrae Dr. – Millwood Rd. to Laird Dr.
      • Area bounded by: Bayview Ave. to Mt Pleasant Rd, Eglinton Ave. E. to Merton St.
      • Lawrence Ave. E. to Forest Glen Cres, Yonge St. to Bayview Ave. with exception to:
      • Mildenhall Rd. - Lawrence Ave. E. to Braeside Rd.
      • Proctor Cres.
      • Braeside Cr.
      • Rothmere Dr. – Braeside Rd. to Mildenhall Rd.
      • Kappele Ave.
      • Haslemere Rd.
      • Braeside Rd.
      • Langton Ave.
    • Streets mentioned above will not receive service if there is permit parking or parked cars on the street
  • Ward 16, Don Valley East
    • Please note: Driveway windrow clearing is not provided for the following:
      • Area bounded by: Green Belt Dr. to David Dunlop Cir, Dallimore Cir. to David Dunlop Cir.
  • Ward 17, Don Valley North
  • Ward 18, Willowdale

Scarborough District

  • Ward 20, Scarborough Southwest
  • Ward 21, Scarborough Centre
  • Ward 22, Scarborough-Agincourt
  • Ward 23, Scarbrough North
  • Ward 24, Scarbrough-Guildwood
  • Ward 25, Scarborough-Rouge

Etobicoke York Districts

  • Ward 1, Etobicoke North
  • Ward 2, Etobicoke Centre
  • Ward 3, Etobicoke-Lakeshore
  • Ward 5, York South-Weston
  • Ward 7, Humber River Black Creek

Toronto & East York Districts  

This service is provided only where physical conditions allow us to do so. On some streets, it is not possible due to parking and lack of storage space for snow. 
 

  • Ward  4, Parkdale-High Park
  • Ward 9, Davenport
  • Ward 10, Spadina-Fort-York
  • Ward 11, University-Rosedale
  • Ward 12, Toronto-St. Paul's
  • Ward 13, Toronto Centre
  • Ward 14, Toronto-Danforth
  • Ward 19, Beaches-East York

The area that receives this service is: generally bounded by Eglinton Avenue West, Avenue Road, St. Clair Avenue West, and Bathurst Street. The City also clears the following:

  • O'Connor Dr. from Broadview Ave. to Woodbine Ave.
  • Chaplin Cr (Avenue Rd. to Duplex Ave.)
  • Avenue Rd (Hillholme Rd. to Kilbarry Rd.)
  • section of streets west of Woodbine Heights Blvd and Parkview Hill Cres

City Council, in establishing its harmonized program for winter services, directed that windrows (the banks of snow piled up at the roadside after the plow has passed through) be cleared from driveways in areas of the City where this activity can be achieved by mechanized means.
 

Guidelines for assessing where driveway opening (windrow) clearing was physically feasible included the following:

  1. local streets that are no less than 8.5 m in width; and/or
  2. adequate boulevard storage space is available; and
  3. long-term on-street parking is not permitted due to the dense urban form, narrow streets, and prevalent on-street parking, the vast majority of streets in Toronto & East York District cannot be feasibly accommodated for driveway windrow clearing. Often one street or block can be considered under the criteria, but several adjacent streets or blocks cannot. Given the severe constraints in Toronto & East York District, Transportation Services has developed a program to do windrow clearings in areas where there are several streets or blocks in one area that can be cleared on time. (approx. 2,000 residential driveways in 2004) The area of Toronto & East York District where this activity will occur is bounded by Eglinton Avenue West, Avenue Rd., St. Clair Ave. W., and Bathurst St. 
  4. The goal will be to clear a maximum of a 3-meter wide opening, sufficient for a small car to pass safely. Every effort will be made to clear the windrows in the above-noted area this winter, however, if the operators encounter parked cars or other impediments, they may be prevented from clearing some driveways. The windrow clearing operation will commence on local roads following the completion of each round of plowing only when a windrow height exceeds 25cm. For the collector and arterial roads, it will commence after the final round of roadway plowing when the windrow height exceeds 25 cm

Note: Windows created by sidewalk plowing operations are not part of the windrow removal program.