Montreal expects snowstorm cleanup to continue past Christmas
Six boroughs can track snow removal progress online with new pilot project
Last Updated: Monday, December 22, 2008 | 12:46 PM ET
CBC News
Plows are clearing more than 4,000 kilometres of roads and 6,000 kilometres of sidewalks in Montreal. Snow clearing crews are off to a good start after Sunday's big snowstorm, according to the City of Montreal, but the city won't be able to clear away everything before Thursday — Christmas Day.
Plows zigzagged across the island Monday to continue the around-the-clock cleanup of 20 centimetres of snow that fell the day before.
Marcel Tremblay, the member of the city's executive committee responsible for snow removal, expects two-thirds of the snow to be cleared away by Thursday.
"It's a big operation," Tremblay told CBC News. "Now the snow has fallen, we're gonna push it and pick it up ... so that people can visit their loved ones without having to cross snowbanks."
Sunday's blizzard was the latest in a series of storms that has dumped 85 centimetres of snow in all on the region so far this fall and winter. That's far above the average of 58 centimetres but far below the whopping 120 centimetres that had fallen on Montreal by this time last year.
The union representing Montreal's-blue collar workers said the city could do a better job of clearing the streets if snow removal services were centralized. Currently, each borough is responsible for its own snow removal.
Boroughs have adapted
Tremblay dismissed the suggestion, saying the boroughs have adapted their own removal programs to individual neighbourhoods and streets.
He said the boroughs are doing a better job of co-ordinating their snow removal efforts, especially on shared streets. Tremblay also pointed out a new online pilot project in six boroughs that allows citizens to track the progress of snow removal where they live.
The boroughs participating in the Info-Neige project are: Côte-des-Neiges/Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Outremont, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie, Le Sud-Ouest and the downtown borough of Ville-Marie.
Dave Sammonds was not pleased to have to dig his car out from under a pile of snow left behind from the storm and a plow passing by. He was visiting Montreal on Sunday from his home in Virginia.
"I'm a bit overwhelmed by this snow," said Sammonds, who decided to change his plans to make the best of the situation. "I'm going to [Mont] Tremblant, going snowboarding."
The storm continued to move across central and eastern Quebec on Monday, causing slippery roads and poor visibility on highways in the Eastern Townships and the Montérégie and some isolated road closures in the Lower St. Lawrence and the Gaspé.
