Amendments to MMS

More commentary on the recent amendments to the MMS, by Jennifer Stirton.

3. Additional Winter Patrolling Requirements

One of the criticisms of the MMS was that the patrolling requirements were inadequate to respond to winter road conditions.[1] The MMS now provide that during the winter maintenance season, municipalities must conduct the routine patrols that were previously required but must also patrol highways that are representative of its highways, as necessary, for snow and ice conditions. The standard also allows patrolling to be done by patrollers or by winter maintenance operators. As neither “representative” nor “as necessary” are defined terms and, we expect to see claims challenging municipal decisions about representative highways and necessary patrol frequencies.

[1] See Thornhill (Litigation Guardian of) v. Shadid, [2008] O.J. No. 372 at paras. 98-103 (S.C.J.).