City And You Have Same Dilemma: Where To Put All That Snow
Posted February 12, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
If’s there’s one question that’s on everyone’s mind, besides ‘when is spring coming?, it’s this: Where am I going to put it all?
This latest blast of snow is making life miserable for everyone, but for those on some of the thinner side streets, it’s been not only impossible but impassable. Caroline Wakelin lives in the Dundas-Greenwood area. Her road hasn’t seen a plow in 12 days. “Right now I’m going to pick up my mother-in-law and I’m scared,” she confesses “I didn’t want to come out but I have no choice.
“It is just terrible,” she adds. “The road is sliding. The cars are sliding.”
Shoub Uddin hasn’t had things much better. “I had mine stuck twice. I got everyone from the neighbourhood to give me a push.”
What’s different about this winter than those that have come before? In addition to the relentless onslaught of snow, Mother Nature usually has the good sense to allow a few warmer days for all the flakes to melt.
Not this year.
That’s led the city to order trucks in to haul away the snow to a series of dumping grounds for the first time since Mel Lastman ordered in the army back in 1999. But those in charge admit it’s a slow go to see all that snow go. “Probably going to take us a couple weeks to clean up everything in addition to the snow we’re getting today, possibly Friday, possibly next Monday,” Toronto Transportation GM Gary Welsh agrees. “It’s really hampering our efforts.”
That’s cold comfort for Wakelin and her neighbours. “I understand that, you know, it takes time, but I mean [this] side street! Look at it. Look at the condition. Look how the cars are parked. We can’t get into a garage.”
While many aren’t happy, Mayor David Miller reminds you just what the city crews are up against. “Coordinating an effort like this is incredible,” he points out. “We’ve got as many kilometres of road in Toronto to plow as going from Halifax to Vancouver.”
And as for calling in the army, as his predecessor so famously did? “We learned from that,” he laughs. “We’re doing it with our own resources.”
A snow melter has been set up outside Ontario Place and crews are patrolling streets where their equipment normally can’t reach.
It cost the city about $4 million to clean up after last week’s storm, and they say with the record amounts of snow we’ve had so far this winter, they may have to dip into a rainy – or in this case, snowy – day fund if they go over the current $65-67 million budget. “We have a reserve fund that we can draw from, so we’re not too worried about paying for the snow removal efforts,” cautions city Transportation GM Gary Welsh.
Homeowners are reminded that they have 12 hours after a snowfall to clear their walks or face a fine. But some won’t have to worry about that, because it seems like it never really stops falling.