City crews have brought out plenty of heavy equipment to deal with this weekend’s snowfall.
But the best tool at their disposal may well be the forbearance of the City’s residents. “They were going 24 hours for three days straight,” says Ottawa Traffic Operations Manager Kevin Wylie. “So that means the night crew would come in, the day crew would stay later, and the trucks would just keep on going.”
Plowed snow has created tall snowbanks, turning many side roads into single lanes and severely hampering visibility. “It’s impossible to see when the cars are coming so just have to be really careful,” says motorist Jessica Kuseler.
Pedestrians don’t have it much better. Lynn Norris was faced with wading through a snow-covered sidewalk or walking with traffic along busy Carling Avenue. “I’m a little curious as to why they haven’t done a main street like this,” she says.
Wylie points out that many sidewalks that were plowed on Saturday filled back in on Sunday – a problem with this particular storm’s double-barrelled blast of snow, ice pellets and freezing rain. And double the work means double the expense. The final cost of this storm could be around $4-million.
Above all, Wylie is asking residents to be patient. It could be a week before all the snow is cleared. “We’re going to take Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off and give the guys a bit of a break,” He says. “Then we’ll be right back at it Boxing Day.”
