Sudbury launches interactive snow plow status map to keep residents informed

Staff in Greater Sudbury launched a new snow plowing status map to keep residents informed with real time updates on winter maintenance. Lyndsay Aelick has more

The City of Greater Sudbury has unveiled a new interactive snow plow status map to help residents track winter maintenance operations in real-time. The tool, which launched today, provides updates on plowing, salting and sanding activities across the city’s extensive road and sidewalk network. The aim of the map is to improve transparency and communication during the winter season.

With approximately 3,600 lane kilometres of roads and 350 kilometres of sidewalks to maintain, the city often fields inquiries from residents about snow-clearing progress during and after winter storms. The new map allows users to check when a specific road or sidewalk was last serviced, with updates appearing within 30 minutes of completion.

The map features separate drop-down menus for roads and sidewalks, colour-coded to indicate the timing of the last maintenance activity. Areas are highlighted to show whether they were serviced within the last 12 hours (green), 12 to 24 hours (blue), 24 to 48 hours (orange), or not at all (brown). Locations not maintained by the city are also clearly marked.

“When you’re on that map, you’ll see the colours change from green to blue to orange to brown,” said Dan Thibeault, the city’s linear infrastructure manager.

“Green indicates service within the last 12 hours, blue is 12 to 24 hours, orange is 24 to 48 hours, and brown means no recent servicing.”

The launch of the map comes as the city reflects on the financial impact of winter weather. Joe Rocca, Greater Sudbury’s director of linear infrastructure services, noted that while last year’s mild winter left the city with a budget surplus, a recent nine-day snow event from Dec. 3 to 11 cost approximately $1.4 million in plowing alone.

“When you have continuous snow plowing like that, it becomes a rather expensive proposition,” Rocca said.

“But with less snow, we use less sand and salt, and street sweeping becomes quicker. Our budgets are mainly based on the type of weather we’re expecting.”

Residents are encouraged to explore the map at http://www.greatersudbury.ca/plowmap. City officials acknowledge that this is an initial version of the system and say they will continue to refine its functionality based on user feedback.

In the meantime, residents are reminded to wait 24 hours after a storm ends before contacting 311 if their street has not been plowed. According to city officials, snow plowing is the second most common reason residents call the service line.

The new tool is part of Greater Sudbury’s ongoing efforts to enhance winter maintenance operations and keep residents informed during the challenging winter months.

With files from CTVNorthernOntario.ca journalist Lyndsay Aelick