Spring, Summer, & Fall Operations

From the City of Ottawa operations

In these updates, we/our refers to the City of Ottawa's operations crews.

Recent Updates

Forestry Summer Update (July 22, 2025)

Growing our canopy

The first phase of the 2025 Plant Your Place! program is complete and was a huge success. It saw 1,200 homes across the City access trees for their property at no charge. Residents who missed the distributions this year should stay tuned, as the program will return in 2026. Meanwhile, the next Plant Your Place! event will plant 50 more trees at Ottawa Community Housing locations in the fall. 

While tree planting distributions are over, we still encourage residents to help grow our canopy by planting trees on their own property.  However, when selecting the right tree for the right place, it is important to be mindful of the location of property lines and to contact Ontario One Call so that utility providers can locate where infrastructure is buried on their property. This service, which is free, protects residents from being injured from infrastructure such as gas lines, and protects the utilities that they depend on. 

The City also has many tree planting programs for streets, parks and greenspaces.  If you would like a tree planted on City property, please visit Ottawa.ca to learn more. So far this year, we have planted more than 1,700 trees!

Tree Inventory

Our tree inventory is a continuous project across the City. We are collecting a wide range of data including tree location and species. An inventory of City-owned trees is an essential tool to manage these valuable assets. It helps us protect and enhance urban and rural forests, maintaining sustainable forests for generations to come.

Tree Check Month

Did you know August is Tree Check Month?  Our partners at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) mark the month as an opportunity to encourage everyone to be on the lookout for unwelcome invasive pests. Whether on your own property or on public land, spotting and reporting invasives right away to the CFIA is the best way to protect our trees. This year, the CFIA is hosting an information event and you are invited to attend to learn more about how to check trees. Come on down to Britannia Park on August 13 between 11am and 1pm! Forestry Services will join them under the trolley next to the Ron Kolbus Community Centre.

How residents can help  

With camping season now here, we once again remind residents to please burn firewood in the same local area where it was purchased and not to transport it outside that area. Bringing firewood in from other municipalities can greatly contribute to the spread of many different diseases and pests that negatively impact trees and forests. Don’t forget to confirm campfires are allowed!  

Traffic calming installation complete (July 22, 2025)

Temporary Traffic Calming (TTC)

Temporary traffic calming reinstatement is now 98% complete, with flex stakes and cyclo-zone delineators for bike lanes installed throughout neighborhoods across Ottawa. While wet weather occasionally slowed progress or put our operations on hold, we are tracking well overall and anticipate completing reinstatements on schedule. This year’s focus is on refreshing school zone TTC pavement markings.

Did you know?

As part of our ongoing service review efforts, we’ve observed a significant increase in the use of flex stakes and delineators across City programs. Between 2023 and 2025, the number of units installed each year rose from 6,090 units to 8,612—a 41% increase that reflects a citywide emphasis on low-cost, quickly deployable safety infrastructure to support active transportation and traffic calming. A total of 643 locations have been submitted to TTC Coordinators for review as part of the 2025 spring planning process.

Key dates for the 2025 TTC Program include:

• August 1 – All work orders for flex stakes, delineators, pavement markings, and thermoplastics will be issued.

• September 15 – All speed hump requests will be submitted to our partners in Infrastructure Services.

• October 31 – All speed display boards needing new posts will be ordered.

• November 21 – All other speed display boards will be ordered.

Pavement Marking Program and Signs

The annual pavement marking program is in full swing. Our crews are prioritizing high-traffic and safety-sensitive areas first, including pedestrian crossovers (98% complete), signalized intersections (20% complete), bike lanes, and school zones. The cooler temperatures earlier this month slightly delayed the application of our more durable methyl methacrylate (MMA) paint, but we’re now on track with work planned through the summer and into the fall.

Our Signs team continues to support Ottawa’s full calendar of events, ensuring safe traffic control for everything from Race Weekend to Canada Day preparations. For Canada Day celebrations alone, the team coordinated approximately 18 road closures in the downtown core, with appropriate signage and detour routes in place.

Traffic Signal Maintenance

Signal maintenance has been progressing as planned, with inspections and updates underway at intersections city-wide. We’ve been actively supporting internal construction projects, coordinating traffic signal work and intersection modifications with Infrastructure and Water Services and OC Transpo.

Street sweeping complete (May 31, 2025)

The City has completed its street sweeping operations for the spring!

Spring update (May 21, 2025)

Temporary Traffic Calming (TTC) and Safety Measures

Our Traffic Signs team has been hard at work this season. In addition to repairing winter damage to signage across the city, crews are actively installing flex stakes and new signs in our expanding suburban neighborhoods.

Did you know? Beyond day-to-day operations, the team also plays a vital role in supporting Ottawa’s busy schedule of special events. From Race Weekend and Canada Day to Bluesfest and Redblacks home games, our staff manage signage and traffic control for over 400 events annually—ensuring safe and efficient travel for residents and visitors alike.

Since January, we have also been processing new Temporary Traffic Calming (TTC) location requests. In 2024, in addition to reinstating 5,300 existing TTC measures, we installed 168 new flex stake locations, 99 new speed display boards, and 79 new thermoplastic and pavement markings. Reinstatement of flex stakes and bicycle delineators typically begins in late April/early May, and this year is no exception!

As always, it is essential to coordinate with our partners in Roads and Parking Services to ensure that street sweeping operations have been completed before we can install flex stakes and begin pavement markings. This step is crucial because street sweeping removes debris and keeps roads clean, which is vital for the safe and efficient installation of traffic calming measures and pavement markings.

Pavement Marking Program

Our annual pavement marking program also begins on streets where street sweeping operations are completed. This program involves refreshing all existing road markings, including intersections, cycling facilities, traffic calming measures, and pedestrian crossovers.

Once pavement marking operations commence, our teams prioritize locations city-wide with safety concerns, and high traffic volume areas based on traffic count data. These priority locations include pedestrian crossovers (PXOs), signalized intersections, TTC markings, bike lane markings, rural unsignalized intersections, and arterial longitudinal markings. After addressing these priority areas, we move on to other pavement marking maintenance tasks.

Most of this work is carried out at night when traffic is lighter, while in rural areas, some tasks are performed during the day, depending on weather conditions. This year, we will continue applying a more durable methyl methacrylate (MMA) paint, where possible, from June to September, as it requires warmer temperatures. Alternatively, an acetone-based paint truck is used throughout the pavement marking season. Additional equipment is used for specialty markings which includes the application of thermoplastic designs, such as TTC measures. Given Ottawa’s large geographical area, pavement marking operations are continuous throughout the summer and into the fall.

Traffic Signal Maintenance

Our seasonal signal maintenance runs from April to October, during which we inspect and maintain traffic signals at over 1,200 intersections, as well as flashing beacons and school zone flashers across the city to ensure their reliability. You will see our teams at various traffic signals performing inspections, cleaning, and minor maintenance activities.

As construction season ramps up around the city, you may see our teams assisting with various projects. We collaborate with our internal partners in the Infrastructure and Water Services Department and OC Transpo to support construction projects, including traffic signal requirements, intersection design, and intersection relocation.

How Residents Can Help

• Report missing or damaged flex stakes, pavement marking concerns, or traffic signal issues by visiting Ottawa.ca/311.​

• Adhering to posted speed limits and being vigilant for pedestrians and cyclists, especially with the increase in active transportation during the warmer months.

• Check out our traffic webpage and stay up-to-date on all the latest and ongoing traffic impacts across the city.

We appreciate your continued support in keeping Ottawa's roads safe and efficient. We will continue to keep you updated as operations progress over the summer months.

Street sweeping operations underway (April 10, 2025)

It has been a long, busy winter season, but don’t look now, spring is here – finally! And you know what that means, right? It’s time for the Roads and Parking Services team to shift their focus to cleaning up our communities from the mess winter leaves behind. This winter season seemed like it was never going to end, but the days are getting longer and it’s time to enjoy springtime activities. An important part of our spring maintenance is street sweeping operations; this activity ensures areas such as sidewalks, roads and the cycling network are clear of debris. City-wide street sweeping operations take place in suburban and rural neighbourhoods. Today, we are happy to announce that city-wide street sweeping operations are underway! Move over snowplows, here come the street sweepers! 

How long will it take?

Street sweeping operations are an essential part of cleaning up the transportation network, and our Maintenance Quality Standards (MQS) require us to complete them by May 31st. Street sweeping typically begins as early as the weather will allow and occurs during both daytime and nighttime shifts. But when the overnight temperature drops below zero, operations must be paused as the water we use on the road can form into ice, creating dangerous conditions.

Because of recent winter-like weather and colder temperatures, this spring’s cleanup and street sweeping activities are starting later than usual. Timelines may be impacted but we will do our best to stay on schedule – either way, you can rest assured that regular updates will be provided as we progress through our spring cleanup efforts.   

How is city-wide street sweeping completed?

City-wide street sweeping is done in phases: 

• Sidewalks, bus stop pads and medians are cleaned first by a variety of methods using sidewalk sweepers, leaf blowers, flusher trucks and hand brooms.

• A sidewalk sweeper will work in the area first, pushing grit, debris and dust onto the roadway. A vacuum sweeper or mechanical sweeper truck then picks up the majority of grit, debris, small particles and dust removing it from the road.

• This operation might be repeated several times to ensure a clean surface. If vehicles are parked on the street, the unswept area is noted, and crews will return to sweep that portion at a later date.

There are no parking restrictions in effect during city-wide street sweeping operations.

Street sweeping in concentrated areas

In urban neighbourhoods that support continuous on-street parking year-round, we complete what is known as concentrated street sweeping. Concentrated street sweeping operations are an important and necessary requirement in the urban neighbourhoods to efficiently move through the streets. Unlike city-wide street sweeping operations, parking restrictions are in effect in neighbourhoods where concentrated street sweeping is underway. Residents are required to move their cars to allow street sweeping operations to be completed, and signage will be posted to alert residents when these operations are scheduled to take place.

Concentrated street sweeping operations began on April 7th. While its sweepers had to take a brief three-day pause because of Monday’s winter-like event, they are now back on the roads and operations have since resumed. Weather permitting, concentrated street sweeping is expected to be completed on April 18th.

Resident support is required

• Residents are reminded to not rake or blow leaves, lawn clippings or other debris onto the roadways as it can make our operations more challenging, especially if the area has already been swept.

• There are no parking restrictions during city-wide street sweeping operations. However, we encourage anyone who can to please remove vehicles from the roadway to allow the street sweeping teams to complete their clean-up efficiently.

We recognize that street sweeping operations can be noisy and disruptive, for the short period in which they take place. However, they are an essential part of our spring clean-up efforts and as such; the City of Ottawa’s street sweeping operations are exempt from the Noise By-law (No. 2017-255) under Section 21(1) and may run at any time.

More information about our street sweeping operations is available on Ottawa.ca/springmaintenance.  

Forestry operations - Oak Wilt (April 2025)

Oak wilt is considered an invasive species; it is a tree disease that restricts the flow of water and nutrients throughout the tree. All oak species are potentially at risk with red and pin oak the most susceptible. The most important thing to know though, is that oak wilt has not been identified within the City of Ottawa or Eastern Ontario and we are doing our very best to keep it that way.

Oak wilt was confirmed in three locations in Ontario in 2023. With the closest location five hours away, Forestry Services has embarked on an educational campaign for our staff, our internal/external partners and residents. The two key messages are to not move firewood and to not prune oak trees between April 1 and August 31. Moving infected firewood is the fastest way to move oak wilt large distances so burning wood where you buy it is a key defence against the disease. Open wounds from pruning can also attract the varieties of beetle that are also known to spread the disease. As part of the City’s approach to prevent the arrival of oak wilt, City of Ottawa Forestry staff will not prune oak trees from April 1- August 31.

Working with our partners at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Invasive Species Centre, our staff are now trained on how to identify and slow the spread of Oak wilt should it arrive within City limits. As long as we don’t move firewood and follow the pruning restrictions, I’m hoping we can avoid this altogether! Visit Ottawa.ca for more details.

Outlook of spring/summer operations

Keeping the City Moving

Fixing potholes, other road maintenance, street sweeping, line painting and more

As the snow began melting, crews were dispatched to fill potholes around the city – averaging over 250,000 potholes annually. Crews use a cold patch and warm mix asphalt to temporarily create a smoother and safer driving surface until asphalt plants open and staff can access regular asphalt. While staff proactively monitor roads to identify major potholes, it is appreciated when residents support our operations by reporting potholes in their communities. Potholes can be reported online and will be triaged and addressed on a priority basis.

Grading of Ottawa’s more than 500 kilometres of gravel roads begins as soon as the weather and local conditions permit. Crews also mitigate potential flooding by opening ditches, culverts and catch basins where required.

Other maintenance operations are also underway, including asphalt, concrete and ironworks repairs. As soon as the temperature consistently remains above zero, city-wide street sweeping will be fully deployed – but it’s already gradually being rolled out in neighbourhoods with year- round on-street parking.

Following the completion of road sweeping, the pavement marking program begins. Existing pavement markings are refreshed annually, including intersections, longitudinal roadway lines, cycling facilities, and traffic calming measures. Crews prioritize various locations with irregularities and safety concerns, along with cycling facilities and pedestrian crossovers, followed by high- volume roads and intersections, then lower-volume streets.

Keeping the City Clean & Green

Lawn repairs, grass cutting, waste management in parks, wild parsnip, and more

Spring lawn reinstatement focuses on repairing areas confirmed as damaged by winter operations equipment. Lawns are repaired using topsoil and seed – not sod – and staff leave behind maintenance instructions for property owners in the form of a door knocker. Residents aware of locations requiring repair should report them online as soon as possible to be added to the Spring Maintenance List.

Cleaning and litter pick-up has resumed across the city, in parks, Business Improvement Areas and the ByWard Market. This includes an increase in resources and patrolling of the ByWard Market and Rideau Street during the spring/summer seasons and peak periods to improve overall cleanliness. In these areas and across the city, staff are also coordinating the removal of vandalism, which can be reported online or via 3-1-1.

As more people get out and get active, staff get busy collecting waste in City parks. Last year, Solid Waste Services expanded the Waste Diversion in Parks Program to a total of 56 locations containing 3-stream bins. The seasonal bin sets as well as seasonal bins will be returned to their respective parks as soon as the weather permits.

This year the refreshed Tree Dedication and Plant Your Place!(link is external) programs have launched, and spring tree planting begins in the last week of April, running until late June, weather permitting. Stay tuned for information about the new proactive approach to replacing trees in the right of way which will be rolled out in the coming weeks. Weekly tree watering takes place from May to September. Other tree maintenance activities continue all year and include tree pruning and the removal of dead or hazardous trees.

Tree stumping operations will begin in early May and continue through the fall. Forestry inspection staff continue to respond to service requests for City trees that include assessing storm damage, monitoring tree and forest health, and enforcing the Tree Protection By-law.

The Wild Parsnip Management Strategy includes mapping wild parsnip infestation levels, raising public awareness, and applying herbicides at select locations. A memo providing an update on the strategy and a map of the spray areas will be circulated to members of Council in the coming weeks.

Keeping the City Active & Safe

Reinstallation of traffic calming measures, road safety action plan, infrastructure inspection, and more.

The reinstallation of traffic calming flex stakes typically begins by mid-April and should be completed by mid-June with installation of new locations to follow. The installation of bicycle lane delineators should be completed by mid-May once pavement markings have been refreshed.

Damaged or missing flex stakes or bicycle lane delineators can be reported online or via 3-1-1.

The City offers several options for parking bicycles, including ring-and-post racks at various locations throughout the city, seasonal on-street bike corrals, and three public secure bike lockers.

As temperatures climb, the number of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcycle users on Ottawa roads also rises. Staff continue to implement strategies to reduce fatal and major injuries due to collisions through education, enforcement and engineering practices, as part of the Road Safety Action Plan – things like pop-up events; digital ‘Think Safety, Act Safely’ awareness campaigns; continuation of the cyclist detection bollards pilot at signalized intersections and crossings; and installation of 24 new automated speed enforcement cameras.

Additionally, the seasonal traffic signal re-lamping program occurs from April to October. This program deploys staff to inspect, clean and repair traffic signals at over 1,200 intersections, flashing beacons, and school zone flashers across the city to maintain reliability.

Seasonal transition activities also include the preparation of ball diamonds, the installation of volleyball nets and seasonal docks and the activation of sports field lighting controls to support outdoor recreation amenities, such as skate parks, tennis and basketball courts.

Many spring park maintenance activities are already underway and will continue over the coming months, including the removal of rink boards and temporary lights, playground and park inspections, litter clean-up in parks and the activation of water services for garden plots, fountains, spray pads, wading pools and irrigation systems and the grooming of public beaches. The City offers summer seasonal beach parking passes for Petrie Island Beach (789 Trim Road).

More communications will be coming throughout the spring and early summer to provide timely details on ongoing summer park maintenance services.

Supporting Residents’ Spring Cleaning

Recyling events, extended yard bag collection, and more

Solid Waste Services manages the collection, transportation, processing, and disposal of waste from both curbside homes and multi-residential properties, including leaf and yard waste. During peak season, leaf and yard waste collection is extended until 8 p.m. Last year, a significant amount of this waste was kept separate and converted into potting soil at the Barnsdale Leaf and Yard Waste Compost Facility near the Trail Waste Facility Landfill.

For residents who are eager to get back to their gardens, starting in the spring, potting soil is available for purchase at the Trail Waste Facility Landfill while quantities last. Please visit Ottawa.ca/Leafandyard for updates on availability.

The City will host nine Household Hazardous Waste events from April 27 to November 1, which provide a way for residents to dispose of corrosive, flammable or poisonous materials for free. A memo was recently shared with Council detailing each event. However, residents don’t have towait for a Household Hazardous Waste event; the City’s Waste Explorer identifies retailers where many items can be returned daily.

As always, residents can receive curbside collection reminders and alerts by e-mail or phone by signing up at Ottawa.ca/Collectioncalendar. Residents may also download the free Ottawa Collection Calendar mobile app for Apple(link is external) and Android(link is external) devices.

Spring Flooding and Freshet

Pre-Freshet Update (March 5, 2025)

CURRENT CONDITIONS

While our crews deal with the mixed precipitation on our roads, others in the Public Works department continue to work with our colleagues at the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority, South Nation Conservation Authority, and the Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board, monitoring water levels. The three local conservation authorities issued water safety statements this week indicating no expectation of significant flooding associated with this weather event.

OUR RESPONSE

In the event of flooding in low-lying areas, such as occurs at the Ray Wilson Bridge over the Castor River, Traffic Services will issue updated Emergency Road Closure notifications, and these updates will be posted on the interactive traffic web page (traffic.ottawa.ca).

The Rideau River Flood Control operations began blasting last week. This program helps to reduce potential flooding related to ice breakup and ice jams.

WHAT RESIDENTS CAN DO

Flooding-related information is available on ottawa.ca and I encourage all residents to visit these pages ahead of the annual freshet season. This is also the place where residents can obtain status updates during the freshet season.

Residents can also sign up to receive updated flood notices from our conservation authority partners.

• Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority

• Rideau Valley Conservation Authority

• South Nation Conservation Authority

Information on Ottawa River conditions can be found at Current Conditions - Ottawa River Regulation Planning Board .

Rideau River Flood Control Operations

In February and March, the City of Ottawa, in partnership with the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority undertakes ice breaking and clearing operations along the Rideau River during the freshet (when water flow is at its peak) to allow water to flow unrestricted and to alleviate possible spring flooding in flood-prone areas.

You can learn more about operations here.

Spring Freshet (April 23, 2025)

Ottawa River 

Water levels and flows are gradually increasing at several locations along the main stem of the Ottawa River. Levels and flows will continue to increase over the next few days due to increased spring runoff and rain expected to start Thursday. 

The ORRPB continues to provide four-day forecasts which can be found at www.ottawariver.ca/forecasts.

Rideau River and small waterways 

Water levels and flows along our smaller waterways have generally declined to within expected seasonal norms. As a result, the risk of flooding along small waterways within the Ottawa area remains low at this time. That said, the Rideau River and small waterways may respond quickly to significant precipitation events requiring ongoing caution.  

Check the Basement and Overland Flooding page for safety and prevention measures. 

Please continue to keep children and pets away from creeks and waterways.

As a reminder, updated information on freshet operations, impacts, and resources can be found on Flooding | City of Ottawa. 

Sandbag filling stations remain in place for residents to prepare for flooding if needed. Residents can contact 311 should there be a need to replenish supplies at any of the existing sandbag filling locations. https://www.ottawa.ca/en/flooding/river-flooding

Looking ahead 

The Freshet Task Force is expecting water levels and flows to increase over the coming days along local segments of the Ottawa River. We continue to monitor weather forecasts and water statements related to the Ottawa River and the Ottawa River catchment area. Minor flood levels may be exceeded in flood prone areas along the river between Lake Coulonge and Carillon starting Saturday, April 26. The minor flood level is defined as the level at which parts of some streets, lawns and parks are beginning to flood, with no or few houses/buildings being affected. 

We encourage residents to remain vigilant and to regularly monitor water statements, levels, and forecasts. 

Improvements to our riverine flood preparation information for residents are expected to be released as part of our end-of-week update. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions related to spring freshet activities. 

Spring Freshet Over (May 2, 2025)

The spring freshet on the Rideau River and other small local waterways is over. The Rideau River and other small waterways will continue to be monitored for riverine flooding during major precipitation events.

Potholes

See our potholes section!