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Spring Road Conditions
Mud Season has arrived in North Perth.
With the early onset of recent mild temperatures and spring-like conditions in February, we have seen ideal conditions for “Mud Season” to begin.
What is Mud Season?
Mud Season is the period between winter’s end and spring’s start where thawing occurs, leading to many unpaved roads becoming muddy from the melting snow and spring rains. The time period of Mud Season depends on the weather, but typically occurs between late March to early May.
Why Does Mud Season Occur?
With the warming temperatures that begin to melt the ice and snow build-up on top of our gravel roads, the lower layers remain frozen below. As a result, this leaves the pooling waters with nowhere to drain, creating a mud-slurry in the lower layers. When the weight of vehicles travelling along these roads push the mud-slurry to the road surface, it destabilizes the roadway structure, resulting in muddy and rutted road conditions.
Dealing with Mud Season and Road Repairs
During the Mud Season in North Perth grading can only be done when the road surface is firm, otherwise when the gravel is moved, more mud is created. If more material were to be added to the roads prior to these ideal conditions, it would also create more mud.
Before road repairs can be done after the Mud Season, roads first need to harden up with some warm and dry weather. Sunny and windy days are the best conditions to help with this, while some sections of roads may take longer to dry out if they are more sheltered by trees or structures.
The Municipality of North Perth cautions motorist to drive slowly and carefully on gravel roads as some may be very wet or rutted in areas.
Load Restrictions
During the spring thaw, some North Perth roads may become too soft and unstable to withstand the weight of a fully loaded truck, regardless of the axles. In an effort to reduce damage to the roads during spring thaw, each year from March 1st to April 30th, we restrict vehicles to half loads (5 tonnes per axle) on all roads in the municipality, in an effort to reduce the amount of damage to North Perth roads.
Please assist us in reducing repairs to our road system by not having heavy deliveries to your property during this time of year.
Reporting an Issue
If you notice a road that is in particularily rough condition, let us know so we can monitor and prioritize repairs once the dryer weather arrives. Please use one of the following options to report a problem:
- Email the Public Works Department
- Call 519-292-2066
We appreciate your help and cooperation during this Mud Season.
Entrance and Excavation Permits
All new road access points for laneways, driveways and field entrances require an entrance permit and excavation permit. Please contact Public Works to book an appointment for an inspection and fill out an entrance permit form and excavation permit form.
Streetlights
To report a if a streetlight is out or not working properly, please complete the form available on the Citizen Request Portal. When reporting a non-working streetlight, please provide the pole number or address of where the light standard is located.
Winter maintenance and regulations
Winter maintenance operations and guidelines are outlined in the North Perth Winter Maintenance Policy By-law 153-2017. View the Listowel Sidewalk Plowing/Maintenance map.
For more information on winter maintenance of roads and sidewalks in North Perth, visit the Seasonal Maintenance page.