Spring, Summer, & Fall Operations

Apr 25
11 min read

Updated: Jun 10

From the City of Ottawa operations

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

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.

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 Updates

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.