Online map in Sudbury would let residents check when the snow plow will arrive

This winter, Greater Sudbury may adopt technology used in other communities to let residents track when the snow plow will arrive in their neighbourhood.

Calls about snowplowing in the city are second only to pothole complaints, according to stats in a city staff report headed to the operations committee Sept. 18.

In 2022, there were 4,130 pothole complaints, along with 1,560 snow plow calls.

“The public is generally interested in when a particular road has been plowed, with many inquiries to 311 with questions regarding the status of road maintenance,” the report said.

Other communities provide real-time information online about such things as when a road was last plowed, how much of the city has been plowed and current and past locations of the snow plows.

For example in Brampton, residents can view a map that shows which roads were plowed within the last four hours, eight hours and 12 hours.

“This component provides the citizen with insights as to when a route was last serviced which is deemed to be one of the most frequently asked questions,” the report said.

However, most communities don’t show the location of snow plows in real time, the report said, but where the plow was 5-20 minutes ago. That’s for safety reasons.

“Operational delays are typically introduced to prevent what is referred to as ‘plow prediction,’” the report said.

“There has been an increase in instances where citizens may pose a threat and/or harm to plow operators."

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The report recommends offering three types of information on the online map. First, information on the road classification for an individual street. If you live on a busy Class 1-3 street, you can expect more plowing than if you live on streets in Class 4 or lower.

The second type of information would be info on when a road was last plowed and the third would offer info on the status of road and sidewalk plowing across the city.

If approved, the map should be ready in sometime this winter.