The city of Ottawa is defending the way it handled the first snow storm of the season after complaints from many residents. The city admits this storm was challenging but says all staff and equipment were deployed to fight it.
Ottawa resident Eric Law has taken to the road in his scooter, finally able to get out after last week's storm.
“I’ve been stuck in for 3 days last week,” he says, “couldn’t move.”
Now the challenge is maneuvering around the massive snowbanks to access the sidewalk into his Centretown apartment.
“The city doesn't get the idea,” he adds, “if they want people downtown and to do away with their cars, they've got to be able to walk. You just can't walk!”
He's not alone in his complaints. The councillor for the area has been inundated with calls from angry constituents. And today, Catherine McKenney and several other councillors met with city staff to find out what's going on.
“I want to know is it the practice has changed,” says McKenney, “That seems to be the issue here. Did we wait a bit longer; did we not have as many people on call ready to go out with plows?”
The manager of roads services for the city of Ottawa counters those suggestions, “There have been no service level changes,” says Luc Gagné, “We are still practicing the same level of service we did in the past.”
The city of Ottawa admits this first winter storm was a challenging one with 25 cm in 14 hours; an unprecedented amount in that timeframe, according to city staff.
Couple that with high winds, and some equipment breakdown and it made for a difficult response.
“Although staff conduct rigorous winter checks on all equipment, many issues do not come to light until equipment is put under the stress and load of working conditions,” says a city memo to the mayor and councilors, “As a result, the City experienced some equipment breakdowns, resulting in delays across the network. All equipment was quickly brought back on service.”
Still, the city says things are in good shape today.
“Sidewalks are open, bus stops are open, all residential streets are open,” says Gagné.
But many residents would beg to differ.
"I had to catch a cab on Metcalfe and Gladstone and would had to have crawled over a snowbank,” says Carolyn Pengelly, who walks with a cane. She ended up walking to the end of the block to access the cab.
The Centretown Community Health Centre sent out a tweet yesterday, frustrated by pile of snow in front of its facility, asking the city to clear the access.
“Come over here, get it done,” says Christine Nadori with the Centre, “because we need to make sure our clients and everyone who is served by this centre have access.”
That tweet got someone’s attention because access was cleared early this morning.
One snowbank gone; hundreds more to go.
The city is already looking towards the next big winter storm. One potential change is a recommendation that city staff looking at jacking up the fine for illegally dumping snow on sidewalks and roads. That fine could go from $100 to $500.
