Toronto towing abandoned, illegally parked vehicles as snow removal begins

The City of Toronto will begin towing any vehicles in the way as they move from snow clearing to snow removal on Wednesday following a blizzard that left the city buried under historic snowfall.

The city says they will be tagging and towing any illegally parked or abandoned vehicles that impede the work of snow plows or other clearing efforts. This includes any vehicles parked along designated snow routes.

Tagged vehicles will be taken to a car compound and residents can call to locate a vehicle depending on what part of the city they live in. Information can be found here.

Does your car look like this? The city is starting to tow vehicles left abandoned/parked illegally/parked along designated snow routes-especially if they are impeding work of snow plows/TTC vehicles. All towed vehicles will be taken to car compound where owners can pick them up pic.twitter.com/TC37t6Swks

— carl hanstke (@carlCityNews) January 19, 2022

“When a major snowstorm condition is declared, parking on roads designated as snow routes is prohibited for a period of 72 hours,” City spokesperson Brad Ross tweeted on Monday. “This allows for the removal of snow banks left by the city’s snowplows, which can restrict traffic flow, interfere with pedestrians and parking, and obstruct sightlines.”

Designated snow routes are all clearly signed — most are located in the downtown core and they include all streetcar routes. Parking on a designated snow route during a major snow event is subject to a fine of up to $200.

Read more: Union berates TTC’s storm response after hundreds of buses stranded

The city stays they will also be “friendly towing” some parked vehicles that may be in the way of snow removal equipment as they attempt to clear some priority routes and local roads.

These vehicles will be moved to a nearby location. Crews will be reaching out directly to residents if possible, to give them an opportunity to move cars before “friendly” towing takes place.

The snow removal operations are expected to take several days. On Thursday, the city says they will start taking requests for any areas that were missed during the snow clearing process. Residents can call 311 to make a request.

As the removal ramps up, plowing and clearing the snow is still being completed in some parts of the city. Mayor John Tory said the focus for plows shifted to local roads on Tuesday after expressways and major roads saw nearly a dozen combined rounds of plowing following Monday’s storm.

The mayor and city officials declared a “major snowstorm condition” due to the heavy and disruptive snowfall that plagued the city for most of the day.

Tory said 600 plows, 200 salt trucks and 360 sidewalk plows were deployed as crews worked to remove snow from all sidewalks, bus stops, pedestrian crossovers and bike trails.

The goal was to have a second round of plowing completed on local roads by the end of Tuesday. Residents can see the progress and check local streets at toronto.ca/plowto.