City still a week away from completing snow removal operation after massive snow storms

About 15 per cent of Montreal's roads were cleared of snow on Wednesday after two back-to-back snowstorms last week.

Crews are now at around 15 per cent done removing snow from streets and sidewalks on the island, according to an update from the City of Montreal on Wednesday.

The operation is underway after 75 centimetres of snow buried the metropolis following a back-to-back snowstorm and blizzard.

Mayor Valérie Plante said that the city continues to prioritize snow removal from major streets and arteries, metro entrances, hospitals and schools and added that all public facilities had been cleared of snow.

“I would say that for the sidewalks, given the amount of snow that has fallen, that’s where it’s most difficult. I would say that roughly half of the sidewalks on the territory still need to be cleared,” Plante said during a press conference in Ville-Marie.

According to the mayor, the snow removal operation could cost upwards of $50 million, saying that the City of Montreal had already budgeted for the money.

City spokesperson Philippe Sabourin reiterated that it would take a “minimum of seven extra days” to clear all the snow, adding that there was no way to do it quicker.

Drivers, pedestrians sharing the road as sidewalks buried

Plante noted that given the amount of snow that still needs to be removed from sidewalks, it was OK for pedestrians to walk on the street when necessary.

“At this point, I would really appeal to motorists to be extremely careful but also to be patient. Because, at the moment, the roads need to be shared. It’s as much for pedestrians as it is for cars,” she said.

The mayor added that pedestrians also need to be vigilant and aware of their surroundings, with snowblowers and other heavy snow removal machinery working 24/7 to clear the snow.

She emphasized that workers are facing an “exceptional situation” and stressed that motorists need to do their part by moving their cars from streets where work is scheduled to take place.

“A truck at the moment, a 10-wheeler, roughly speaking, fills up in about a minute. Why am I telling you this? Because when there’s a car in the middle of the road, it slows down operations considerably,” Plante said.

Montrealers with disabilities face mobility challenges

For people with reduced mobility, disabilities and the elderly, getting around the city over the last few days has been almost impossible.

That has been the case for Adam Tryhorn and Sandra Gualtieri, who have cerebral palsy and have been stuck indoors for about a week because of the snow.

“Regarding the snow removal, the last week has been really difficult for us and almost impossible to do normal activities like grocery shopping and appointments,” Tryhorn told CTV News in a statement.

Additionally, Tryhorn explained that they have a very important event to attend downtown and that although they have transportation to the location, they do not know if the sidewalk has been cleared at their destination.

“We do understand that the last four days have been extraordinary circumstances, but even a moderate snowfall of 15 to 20 cm can make it extremely hard to get around the city.”

Some leniency on parking fines

To help motorists, the City of Montreal said it will show some leniency regarding parking fines and added that the Sustainable Mobility Agency is providing free street parking as of 7 p.m.

Sabourin explained that about 8,500 free parking spaces are available, mostly at night and some during the day. He said residents can get more information on free parking on the City of Montreal website.

However, the spokesperson stressed that if a car is blocking the road and impeding the work, the car will be towed, and the driver will be fined $186.

Besides cars blocking the road, some other difficulties slowing the work down include garbage in snowbanks that have hardened and that break snow removal machinery and, of course, the cold temperatures.

“If possible, we work from home. For our blue-collar workers, that is not an option. When we don’t have a choice, we take public transport and take the car as a last resort,” Sabourin said.

“And if the car is in a snowbank, we don’t touch it. We wait for someone to come along with our sign, and then we move it.”

Last snowfall of this magnitude goes back almost 125 years

Executive committee member Maja Vodanovic, who is responsible for snow removal said that the last time that 75 cm of snow fell on Montreal in four days was in 1898.

Moreover, she said that crews did not have time to clear the first snowfall before the second one hit.

“Usually when you have 25 cm it takes up to five days to clear the snow. So, it is impossible to do it in a day. So, we did as much as we could. We had about 20 per cent cleared,” Vodanovic said in an interview.

“But then the rest of the snow fell on top of it… And we had the winds that were pushing the snow from the rooftops, from the snowbanks so all of that was coming back on to the sidewalks and the streets.”