The City of Montreal is not planning a loading operation to remove accumulations of snow from the streets after the storm, but rather is counting on warming temperatures in the coming days to see it all turn into water.
“As of yesterday evening, our teams began clearing the sidewalks and streets, and we will continue to clear until tomorrow if necessary,” indicated the person responsible for snow removal to the executive committee, Maya Vodanovic, mayor of Lachine, in point of contact. press Thursday at city hall.
“One thing is certain, I don’t think there will be any snow loading because it should all melt in the next few days. »
The mercury is expected to rise to 5 degrees Celsius on Friday, up to 6 degrees on Saturday and up to 9 degrees on Sunday.
Generally, a snow loading operation is triggered when the accumulation of snow on the ground reaches 15 cm. The accumulation forecast during Thursday’s storm is 15 to 20 centimeters in Montreal.
But according to the leader of the opposition in the municipal council, Aref Salem, the clearing and de-icing of sidewalks are deficient this Thursday, even though we are in the heart of the storm.
“Currently, the sidewalks are not passable and the streets are not passable,” he denounced. There is no salt! We could have put at least a little on the sidewalks so people could walk. It would be the least we could do to take care of the most vulnerable, such as pedestrians who want to leave their homes to work, go shopping or take public transit. »
Maya Vodanovic stressed that the employees responsible for snow removal cannot do everything at once, while the storm continues, and that they must be given time to clear all sectors of the City.
“It takes at least a day, it’s not magic,” she said.
More details to come.