Transportation and Roads

Digging on your property

You must check for buried utility pipes or cables before you start to dig on your property. Contact Ontario1Call at 1-800-400-2255 before you start digging. The following utilities need to be checked before any digging can begin:

• Phone, gas and electricity locates

• Watermain, storm or sanitary sewer locates

• Cable locates

Ditch infilling

Property owners in Richmond Hill must submit a Ditch Infill Application to the Public Works Operations Division to have a ditch filled on their property. The Ditch Infill Policy enables property owners to complete the job themselves or apply for Richmond Hill to complete the work.

For a copy of Richmond Hill's Ditch Infill Policy, call 905-884-8013.

Load restrictions

Some of Richmond Hill's older and gravel roads were not built to handle the impact of heavy truck loads during the spring thaw and rainy season. There are some sites that also have load restrictions throughout the year.

Section 122 of the Highway Traffic Act outlines the reduced weight requirements. There are penalties for exceeding the weight limits.

A seasonal, reduced load period (half-load restrictions) lowers the impact on some Richmond Hill roads, including:

• Bethesda Road, from Bayview Avenue to Highway 404

• 19th Avenue, from Leslie Street to Highway 404

• Pugsley Avenue, from Major Mackenzie Drive to Centre Street

• Crosby Avenue, from Newkirk Road to Pugsley Avenue

• Centre Street, from Newkirk Road to Pugsley Avenue

Road and sidewalk maintenance

Learn about work currently being done on Richmond Hill's roads and sidewalks. This includes any sidewalk construction, road resurfacing or other projects happening in the community.  

Road Occupancy Permit

You need a Road Occupancy Permit for activities that must be completed in the municipality's right-of-way. Temporary construction access, private contractor work and public utility work all need a permit before work can begin.

Salt Management Plan

Richmond Hill's Salt Management Plan provides residents with safe roads to get around and also meets Environment Canada's goals of reducing the use of salt for winter maintenance. The Plan includes operations and procedures needed to reduce the amount of road salt entering the environment during the winter season.

We're committed to protecting our natural areas and improving the health and safety of our community by reducing the negative impact of road salt on fresh water lakes, natural water courses and our infrastructure.

Streetlights

We also make sure streetlights in our community are working properly to ensure the safety of our residents. You can report a streetlight issue and staff will fix it as soon as possible.

Street sweeping

Richmond Hill's Spring Cleanup Program includes street and sidewalk sweeping.

Sweeping of all streets begins the last week of March and is completed by the end of April (depending on weather conditions). You should not park on the street during this time (from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday).

Note: Developers are responsible for organizing street sweeping in construction areas.

Contact Access Richmond Hill at 905-771-8800 to learn more about Richmond Hill's Spring Cleanup Program.

Snow removal

Richmond Hill's snow removal for roads and sidewalks includes plowing and salting services. We aim to have all local roads cleared within 24 hours after the end of a winter storm. Sidewalks are cleared within 16 hours after the end of a typical winter event.

Snow windrow clearing

We are expanding our snow windrow clearing service to include all local, residential driveways. A snow windrow is the pile of snow left at the bottom of a driveway after a snowplow has cleared the road. Plows will remove at least one car’s width of the snow windrow for you, so you have a path to your street.

Learn more at our Windrow Clearing Program webpage.

Traffic Data Request Form

The City of Richmond Hill collects data about the traffic on local roads. The data includes intersection counts with vehicle and pedestrian volumes, and road segment counts include vehicular volume and classification.

Please Note:  The City of Richmond Hill is only able to provide the requested data if it is readily available in our database.

If you wish to request traffic data, please use our Traffic Data Request Form.

Winter maintenance

Richmond Hill's Roads Section takes steps to ensure our roads and sidewalks are safe for residents during the winter months.