Windrow Clearing in Barrie, ON After the City Plow

Windrow clearing in Barrie means removing the ridge of packed snow the city plow pushes across the end of your driveway, after the plow has been and before you need to drive through it. It is for Barrie homeowners who can handle a few centimetres of fresh snow but not a knee-high wall of road slush, and for anyone on a street the plow visits at 3 am.

You get the mouth of the driveway opened to the road, by tractor, with the snow thrown onto your lawn rather than onto the sidewalk.

City plow truck pushing a windrow along a residential street in Barrie Ontario

Why the Windrow Is Yours in Barrie

The City's winter maintenance page puts it in one sentence: all residents in Barrie are responsible for the removal of driveway windrows, as the City does not provide this service. Some Ontario cities run a windrow program for seniors and people with disabilities. Barrie does not, and in December 2025 council was told a program would cost over $12 million a year plus $8.5 million in equipment. The City's own suggestion is a private contractor.

How We Clear It

On a seasonal contract the windrow return is built in: the tractor clears your driveway at 5 cm, and after the City's Plow Tracker shows your street done, the tractor comes back for the ridge. A windrow is heavier than fallen snow, so the blower takes it in two passes and throws it up onto the lawn, away from the sidewalk and the hydrant. On squall days when the plow passes twice, we return twice. The driveway snow removal page covers the first pass; this page is the second.

For homes that shovel their own driveway we sell a one-time windrow dig-out. Call when the plow has been and a tractor on your side of Barrie takes it on the way through its route. Contract homes come first, so on a big night the dig-out may wait until the route ends.

What Affects the Quote

Windrow return is one line on the seasonal snow contract. On its own, the quote depends on driveway width at the road, how many lanes the street has (a two-lane residential street leaves a smaller ridge than a collector like Big Bay Point Road), and whether the pile has been sitting long enough to freeze. Corner lots get the ridge on two sides and are quoted that way.

Windrow Clearing FAQs

  • How do you know when the city plow has been?

    The City of Barrie runs a GPS Plow Tracker that shows which streets have been plowed and when. Our dispatcher watches it for every route and sends the tractor back once your street turns green.

  • Can you push the windrow back onto the road?

    No. Depositing snow on a road or sidewalk breaks Barrie's Nuisance By-law 2025-110 and section 181 of the Highway Traffic Act. We throw it onto your lawn or the side of the driveway you chose.

  • The plow came at 3 am. When do you come?

    On a declared Winter Maintenance Event the tractors follow the plows through the night, because the overnight parking ban means every driveway is in use. On an ordinary snowfall we come in the morning window for your route.

  • Is there a City program for seniors who cannot clear the windrow?

    No. Barrie has no windrow or senior shovelling program; the City points residents to Snow Angels Canada, a volunteer-matching site it does not run. We take seniors on the same routes, quote the dig-out before the tractor comes, and set up a standing order so you do not have to call after every plow.

Request a Written Quote

A visit, a measured driveway, and each service on its own line. Routes close when the tractors are full, so ask before November.

Request a Quote

The Pile at the Road, Gone

Windrow return on every contract, one-time dig-outs across Barrie, quoted before the tractor comes.