Cleaning up after a record snowfall

Ottawa is still digging out from Monday’s record snowfall with the winter blast keeping business owners busy shovelling.

“We couldn’t be open yesterday,” said Tim Noyes-Brown, owner of Masala in the Byward Market. “You couldn’t walk on the sidewalks.”

Monday’s storm dumped nearly 48 centimetres of snow on the capital.

Crews worked around-the-clock to get streets and neighbourhoods plowed.

“It fell so quickly yesterday that they couldn’t stay on top of it, so yeah, hats off to them, they did a great job,” added Noyes-Brown.

On Monday, Mayor Jim Watson estimated the cleanup would cost as much as $5 million.

The winter blast forcing stores like Masala to close, but the ByWard Market was open for business by Tuesday morning.

“The roads are plowed and it’s kind of nice, beautiful weather,” said Jimmy Hyyteaanen, who is visiting from Vancouver Island.

While most major roads and side streets have been cleared, there are sidewalks still nearly knee deep in snow.

“We have all 575 pieces of equipment out on the streets working hard to get them cleared off and that’s our goal by the end of the evening tonight,” said Tim Tierney, city councillor for Beacon Hill-Cyrville.

In Old Ottawa South, Tiana Sproul and her neighbours decided to shovel sections themselves.

“There’s been a lot of neighbourly cheer, so it was trying to make fun out of it too,” she said.

Meanwhile, the fresh powder a chance to get out along the Rideau trail.

“We’ve been waiting for snow for a long time now, it’s great that we can finally see it,” said Sheila Niven, who was heading out for an afternoon of cross-country skiing.

“It was track-set yesterday and my neighbours told me it was in fantastic shape,” said Liz Sterling, with a pair of skis in her hand.

A weather advisory for Ottawa is calling for more snow tonight with 5 to 10 cm of snow throughout the evening.

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Tyler Fleming.