The right of way (ROW) includes all the land and any above or belowground structures from property line to property line across the road allowance.

Some common structures found in the ROW are:

• Roads
• Curbs and Gutters
• Sidewalks
• Fire Hydrants
• Streetlights
• Watermains
• Storm, Sanitary Sewers and Maintenance Holes
• Utility services (Gas, Hydro and Telecommunications)

Some of the activities that require a road occupancy permit in Richmond Hill include:

• Temporary lane closures or road closures
• Mobile crane work
• Work within the ROW including the road and or on the boulevard
• Crossing the boulevard for temporary construction site access

Public Utility Contractors working on behalf of the City or Utility Companies with a Municipal Access Agreements (MAA) or franchise agreements with Richmond Hill are subject to the fees of their respective agreements and should apply directly to permits@richmondhill.ca indicating which Utility they are working for as the Owner in the application.

Public Utility Contractors that are not working on behalf of the City or a Utility Company with a MAA or franchise agreements are to apply as private contractors (see above).

All road crossings to be completed using trenchless technology. Open cutting of the road and/or removal of sidewalk is not permitted without prior written approval of the City.

Notifications

• The permit holder is required to hand deliver notices to all properties within the construction limits in advance of all scheduled work advising them of the project and providing contact information should any questions or issues arise.

Pre-construction Photos

• The permit holder is required to take pre-construction photos of the entire area within the project limits. These must be made available upon request by the City in the event that disputes arise regarding responsibility for damages.

Concrete Sidewalks, Curbs and Gutters

• Sidewalks or curbs damaged or removed shall be replaced with by 30 MPa concrete. Sidewalks shall be a minimum 125mm thickness on a minimum of 75mm depth Granular “A” base. At driveways, concrete thickness shall be increased to 150mm and Granular “A” shall be increased to 300mm depth. From May 1 until November 1, only concrete mix will be accepted as a repair. All permanent concrete curb and sidewalk damaged or removed during this period must be completed immediately upon completion of the job. Concrete sidewalk and curbs shall comply with Ontario Provincial Standard Specification OPSS Form 351 and OPSS Form 353 and all related Ontario Provincial Standard Drawings (OPSD) latest amendments.

• All sidewalk and curb and gutter damaged or removed during the winter months (November 1 – May 1) shall be restored immediately with 50 mm of hot mix asphalt until permanent concrete repairs are completed in the spring. If the sidewalk cannot be temporarily restored the same day with asphalt, then the excavation must be surrounded with snow fencing. The excavation must not be left unattended without fencing. Road plates are not acceptable and are not to be used on the sidewalk. Granular material is not acceptable for temporary restoration. Same day asphalt is the only acceptable temporary restoration.

• In the event that the sidewalk will be disturbed to do the permitted work during the winter months (November 1 – May 1), the City MUST be notified at ropnotification@richmondhill.ca within 48 hours prior to the work commencing.

• All temporary repairs completed during the winter months must be fully restored by May 31 of each year.

• All repairs and restorations must be done so ensuring that the restored area is at grade with the abutting surfaces and that vertical surfaces discontinuities do not exceed 20 mm.

Sodded Boulevards

• Trenches shall be backfilled with native material to the original grade to a minimum of 95% of the maximum Standard Proctor Density. Top soil shall be screened and shredded fine enough to accept sod. The topsoil shall be free of stones, subsoil refuse or other extraneous material and be capable of sustaining healthy plant growth.

• Where new sod abuts existing sod, the contractor shall countersink the new sod to match existing sod. Slopes greater than 3:1 shall be pegged in accordance with OPSD 218.01. Disturbed areas must be sodded within 1 week of backfilling. The depth of topsoil shall be 100mm. The requirements of OPSS 507, 570 and 571 shall apply. The contractor shall maintain and guarantee the sod for the duration of the maintenance period and supply and apply water as required.

• All sodded boulevard damaged or excavated during the winter months shall be back filled immediately with granular “A” gravel up to existing grade until permanent repairs are completed in the spring. All excavations completed during the winter months must be fully restored with topsoil and sod by May 31 of each year.

Inadequate Repairs

• Inadequate temporary/permanent restoration will be rectified by the City.
• All costs incurred by the City related to construction or rectification of poor repairs will be recovered by direct invoicing to the applicant. A 20% surcharge will be applied to cover the City’s overhead and administration costs.

Backfilling - Asphalt, Roads and Driveways

• Trenches in the street pavement (including curbs, driveways and under sidewalks) are to be backfilled with unshrinkable fill unless otherwise directed by the Director of Maintenance and Operations or his designate. Fill area is to be protected with a steel plate until material has set. Unshrinkable fill specifications shall be 25kg/m; cement, concrete aggregates, 0.07mPa (10 PSI) within 24 hours and not to exceed 0.4mPa (60 PSI) at 28 days, AEA to reduce segregation slump of 160mm to 200mm.

Saw Cutting

• On all travelled portions of bituminous or concrete surfaced road or driveways, cutting must be done by means of saw cutting to leave a clean, straight edge with vertical sides. Alternative methods shall be as directed by the Director of Maintenance and Operations, or designate.

Joints

• All joints are to be stepped and all faces against which joints are to be made shall be painted with a thin, continuous and uniform coating of asphalt emulsion complying with O.P.S.S. form 1103, “Material Specification for Emulsified Asphalt.”

Asphalt Restoration

• Road cuts in bituminous road surfaces shall be restored with cold mix asphalt during the winter months as a temporary patch only. As soon as hot mix asphalt becomes available in the spring the temporary cold mix patch must be replaced with a minimum depth of 75mm HL8 and 40mm HL3 Hot Mix Asphalt or to match the depth of the existing pavement structure, whichever is greater.
• Once hot mix asphalt has been placed, all joints are to be sealed with rubberized asphalt. All temporary road cut restoration shall be maintained by the applicant. Workmanship and materials shall conform to the following OPSS specifications:
  • OPSS Form 310 - Construction Specification for Hot Mix Asphalt
  • OPSS Form 1150 - Specification for Hot Mix, Hot Laid Asphaltic Concrete 
  • OPSS Form 1001 - Material Specification for Aggregates - General
  • OPSS Form 1003 - Material Specification for Aggregates - Hot Mix Asphaltic Concrete 
  • OPSS Form 1101 - Material Specification for Asphalt Cement
  • OPSS Form 1103 - Material Specification for Emulsified Asphalt

Driveway Restoration

Driveway crossings are to be bored. Open cutting of driveways is not permitted unless approved in writing by the City. Driveways that are cut shall be restored to match the following minimum standards or to match the original depths (whichever is greater):

Residential:

• 50mm Compacted depth HL3A and HL3F asphalt surface coarse
• 150mm Compacted depth 20mm crusher run limestone

Apartment, Commercial, Light Industrial and residential condo:

• 40mm compacted depth HL3A and HL3F asphalt surface coarse
• 75mm compacted depth HL8 asphalt base coarse
• 200mm compacted depth 20mm Crusher run limestone base

Heavy Industrial:

• 40mm compacted depth HL3A and HL3F asphalt surface coarse
• 100mm compacted depth HL8 asphalt base coarse
• 300mm compacted depth 20mm crusher run limestone

Paving Stones:

• Between 2 mm to 5 mm joint widths filled with mortar sand or limestone screenings
• 30mm to 40mm compacted depth mortar sand or limestone screenings for bedding
• 150 mm Granular ‘A’ compacted depth for base

Concrete Driveways - As per OPSS 351 and all related OPSD, latest amendments:

• 150mm of 30Mpa Concrete
• 150mm compacted depth 20mm crusher run for base