Snow removal may take up to 3 weeks as Toronto digs out of back-to-back storms, city says

The City of Toronto says snow removal may take up to three weeks after Toronto was blanketed with heavy snow from back-to-back winter storms. 

Between 16 and 23 centimetres of snow fell across Toronto over the weekend, which was in addition to 15 to 20 centimetres that fell last Wednesday, the city said in a news release on Monday. 

Crews have been working 24/7 to plow roads and sidewalks, the release said. Plowing is expected to continue into Tuesday before snow removal begins, Barbara Gray, the city's general manager of transportation services, said at a news conference on Monday. 

Snow removal is an "extremely time consuming, slow process," Vincent Sferrazza, director of operations and maintenance for transportation services, said at Monday's conference. 

Crews collect snow in dump trucks and move them to designated snow routes. While equipment can travel around 15 km/hr when plowing snow, they can only travel 1 km/hr when removing snow, he said.

Parts of southern Ontario under travel advisory Monday

Pickering, Oshawa and southern Durham Region are under a winter weather travel advisory Monday. Between five to 10 centimetres of snow is possible and may continue into the night, according to Environment Canada.

Strong winds gusting to 60 km/hr are expected to produce blowing snow and significantly reduce visibility, the federal weather agency said.

"If visibility is reduced while driving, turn on your lights and maintain a safe following distance," the advisory said. "If you must drive, be prepared for areas of poor visibility."

There are currently no weather warnings in effect for the Toronto area, although flurries are in the forecast for Monday morning and evening. A total of two centimetres of snow are expected, Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson said. 

The massive snowfalls that hit Toronto this past week will soon be followed by cold winds coming in from the northwest, Coulson said.

"We're looking at temperatures much colder than normal for the next few days," he said, adding that wind chills could extend into Thursday.

Parking still banned on snow routes

The city will remove snow on a priority basis, beginning with locations such as main street sidewalks, pedestrian signals, transit stops and hospital and emergency service stations. 

A major snowstorm condition and significant weather event remains in effect in Toronto, which means parking continues to be banned on snow routes and all streetcar routes. 

As of Monday, Toronto police have issued 2,393 tickets to vehicles parked on snow routes, the city said. 27 vehicles have been towed. 

"While the major snowstorm condition is in effect, the city encourages the public to leave their vehicles at home and use public transit where possible," the city said in Monday's news release. 

Subway resumes on Line 1 between Bloor-Yonge and Eglinton 

Subway service on the TTC's Line 1 between Bloor-Yonge and Eglinton has resumed after being stopped Monday morning due to ice on the rails, according to a TTC update.

Earlier Monday morning, in an alert that was later removed from its website, the transit agency also warned that delays were expected on all streetcar routes. 

"Customers will experience longer than normal travel time on all streetcar routes due to inclement weather and multiple motor vehicles stuck in snow, blocking streetcar tracks," the transit agency said in the alert. 

Over the course of Monday, a number of streetcar routes — including 501 Queen, 503 Kingston Road, and 506 Carlton — all experienced temporary delays and disruptions due to blocked tracks. 

GO trains operating on modified schedule 

GO trains are operating on a modified schedule Monday in response to the snow storms, a spokesperson for Metrolinx said. 

On the Lakeshore West line, GO trains normally scheduled to start or end at Oakville will not run. Trains will continue to run every 30 minutes between Union Station and Oakville GO. There is no change to regular service for customers between Bronte and Niagara Falls. 

For the Lakeshore East line, GO trains will run every 20 minutes between Union Station and Durham College Oshawa GO. The following changes are also in effect: 

• Eastbound trains that leave Union Station 20 minutes past each hour will end at Oshawa

• Eastbound trains that leave Union Station 50 minutes past each hour will end at Whitby 

• Westbound trains that start 37 minutes past each hour will begin at Oshawa 

Customers are advised to check the GO Transit website to see a full list of modified trip times. 

Highways '1000 per cent better' than Sunday: OPP 

Highways in Ontario are looking "1000 per cent better" on Monday compared to Sunday, said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt. 

"There's still going to be some snow on shoulders and ramps in areas, there's still going to be some slippery sections… but we're back to business here," he said in an interview with CBC Radio's Metro Morning. 

Toronto police said there were 183 property damage collisions and 59 personal injury collisions over the weekend, though it's unclear how many were linked to weather conditions. 

Environment Canada put Toronto under snowfall warnings last week on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

There are currently no warnings in effect, although flurries are in the forecast for Monday morning and evening. A total of two centimetres of snow are expected, according to the federal weather agency's website. 

Sunday saw 22 centimetres of snow accumulate at Toronto Pearson International Airport, the airport said in a post on X on Sunday afternoon. 

The amount brought "the total snowfall accumulation to 63 centimetres since last weekend," the airport said, coming a few centimetres shy of how much snow was recorded for the entire winter 2023-2024 season. 

The airport said it is expecting a busy day on Monday as airlines catch up after the snowfall. Over 130,000 travellers are expected to board around 1,000 flights, it said in a post on Monday morning. 

By 11 a.m. on Sunday, 25 per cent of departing flights and 28 per cent of arriving flights at Pearson had been cancelled, a spokesperson told CBC Toronto.