While the melting snow last weekend in Mississauga was good news for many and a welcome sign of spring, it also revealed something not so favourable — all the damage done over the winter to healthy grass by the city’s sidewalk snowplows.
For the first time, the City of Mississauga plowed all sidewalks throughout the municipality as part of regular winter maintenance provided to residents. In doing so, it added some 900 kilometres of secondary sidewalks to the 1,550 kilometres of priority roadside routes it has always cleared.
Helen Noehammer, Mississauga’s director of works operations and maintenance, said this week “we knew we were going to get additional sod damage” to lawns with all the extra sidewalks being cleared of snow.
“It’s, unfortunately, just a byproduct of residential sidewalk (snow) clearing, and definitely with the warmer weather this (past) weekend and the snow melt, now a lot more of that sod damage is coming to light, so we are getting a huge volume of inquiries.”
Helen Noehammer, Mississauga’s director of works operations and maintenance, said the city has received a “huge volume of inquiries” from residents whose lawns have been damaged.
Noehammer added that, in many cases, the damage is minor — “the grass has grown over the sidewalk edges and the plow has just clipped it” — and will be repaired in the coming months by city workers.
Where damage to grass is more substantial, she said, and sod will have to be replaced, the city will have its contractor make the repairs to residents’ lawns.
Noehammer explained the city’s winter maintenance operations will have to come to an end before sod damage can be properly assessed and then repaired.
She said minor repairs will be completed first — in April and May — with more substantial fixes to follow. In cases of greater damage to lawns, where new sod must be put down, the city aims to get those repairs completed before June and “the heat of the summer” and if not then, in the fall.
“But our preference is to get that all done before summer,” Noehammer stressed, noting the city will be dealing with an increased number of sod repairs due to the expanded sidewalk snowplow program.
(Graphic: City of Mississauga)
City officials said in a post to social media on Friday that “when clearing sidewalks, the city’s plow operators try to avoid sod damage as much as possible, but unfortunately some sod damage may still occur.”
Why sod damage caused by snowplows happens, according to the city:
Grass has overgrown onto the sidewalk.
Wet sod is easily torn.
Deep snow can hide sidewalk lines from the snowplow operator.
Parked vehicles and landscaping can force plow operators onto the grass to avoid hitting the obstacle.
To report sod damage, residents are advised to call 311 or report it online to the city.
Mississauga Ward 10 Coun. Sue McFadden noted in her newsletter to the community in January that despite best efforts, grass was being damaged in some neighbourhoods by sidewalk plows.
(Cover photo: City of Mississauga X)
INsauga’s Editorial Standards and Policies
Last 30 Days: 33,038 Votes
All Time: 1,257,612 Votes
213 VOTES
Are you worried you might lose your job in the next 6-12 months?
WIN A $100 GIFT CARD
Subscribe to INsauga’s daily email newsletter for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card.