Montreal’s mayor says the city is ready for the snow this winter, and the administration is investing $16 million in new equipment. It is also opting for salt on the sidewalks instead of gravel. On Thursday, Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada showed off one of the city’s brand-new snow removal trucks, which will be part of the modernized fleet that will go into operation ahead of the upcoming winter. “When we got into the administration last November, it was actually too late to do all the changes that needed to be done,” she said. “Today, we’re doing those changes.” In January, the mayor admitted a quarter of the city’s equipment was broken down and unavailable. This winter, she’s adding 19 loaders, 13 snow blowers, and 11 new salt trucks. “Citizens expect when they get out of their homes that their streets are safe to walk on,” said Martinez Ferrada. The mayor says that de-icing sidewalks will be a priority, and to do that, the city will rely more on salt; a product that is effective, but has fallen out of favour because of its impacts on infrastructure and the environment. “There is an impact, and we have to be realistic about that, and we have to find a way to better treat it and use it in a way that’s the right amount for the right temperature, but we can’t go without it,” she said. The city will also test a new South Korean product that uses starfish additives to reduce the impact of salt. Equipment, however, is only part of the battle. The mayor says she’s trying to make the city smarter as well. “We’re creating a new weather and operation monitoring centre to better anticipate snow storms, freezing rain, and changing conditions in deploying the right resource at the right time,” the mayor said. To cut down costs this year, close to half of snow removal operations will be done by private companies. The city will have to manage 115 separate contracts across the 19 boroughs. The opposition critic at City Hall says she would like more clarity about who is calling the shots. “You need to have a chief of the orchestra,” said Verdun borough mayor Celine-Audrey Beauregard. “This is what I criticized last year. Who is the leader of this action?” After a difficult summer marked by potholes, the administration faces a big test in making sure snow removal goes smoothly this winter.
