Montreal is considering the possibility of blowing more snow onto the city’s residential lands, according to a survey which suggests that a majority of citizens are quite satisfied with municipal snow removal.
The City deserves an average score of 6.6/10 for its winter work, according to the study carried out by the Léger firm among 1,000 Montrealers and that The Press obtained. Snow removal around metro stations and bus stops received the highest marks, while cleaning sidewalks was judged more harshly.
“This is relatively good news for the City of Montreal,” commented pollster Christian Bourque, vice-president at Léger. “We see that it obtains a completely correct result for its snow removal performance. This allows us to hear the voice of the silent majority who say they are relatively satisfied, even if we frequently hear a noisy minority in public spaces. »
The City of Montreal welcomed these results positively.
“There are variables that we cannot control: the action of salt when it is very cold, for example,” said Philippe Sabourin, spokesperson for the City of Montreal.
A satisfaction rate like we have, when we put it in this context with the vagaries of the weather, it’s good news.
Philippe Sabourin, spokesperson for the City of Montreal
“There is always room for improvement,” added Mr. Sabourin. And we can only improve what we measure. That’s why we do polls like this. »
More snow on the grounds?
The City of Montreal took advantage of the survey to test a “new measure” that it is considering: “blowing snow on the land”, where “where space allows”, as in other Quebec cities.
About 58% of respondents said they were in favor of the idea. Parking lot owners, respondents aged 55 and over, as well as residents of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles are, however, much less enthusiastic about this idea.
The idea of blowing snow is not disinterested for the City of Montreal. Loading snow is very expensive, taking up most of the $196 million snow budget.
A rare city to handle almost all of the snow falling on its streets, the Quebec metropolis has the highest cost for snow removal from its arteries. Montreal estimates spending $18,000 to maintain each kilometer of street, three times more than other large cities in the country.
Another “new measure” is, however, much less popular: a narrow majority of Montrealers (52%) would oppose the removal of warning sirens before the passage of collection convoys, the study suggests. The City has nevertheless undertaken to test the thing: a pilot project was recently launched in two sectors of the island.
Speed is “the key”
Satisfaction with snow removal is not uniform across the island’s population, according to Léger’s study, obtained by The Press through access to information.
Montrealers who travel mainly on foot during the winter are a little more satisfied than others, as are those who do not own a car and residents of the Anjou district, explains the report.
“The clarity of the instructions and instructions to be followed and the deadlines for carrying out each type of operation are rather satisfactory in the eyes of Montrealers,” indicates Léger in his report. “With an average result below the threshold of satisfaction, the availability of parking, for its part, presents itself as an opportunity for improvement for the City. »
But “the key” to public opinion regarding snow removal is the speed of execution, underlines Christian Bourque in a telephone interview.
Thus, “execution time is the main reason for satisfaction AND dissatisfaction for the majority of Montrealers,” indicates the survey. The quality of service comes in second place. “Those who travel on foot and by public transit during the winter more often mention slippery sidewalks as a reason for their dissatisfaction,” adds the document.
The Léger survey was carried out on 1er as of June 13 with 1001 respondents, by telephone and on the web. The maximum margin of error for a probability sample of the same size is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20.
With the collaboration of William Leclerc, The Press
More concentrated snowfall
Montreal faces a new snow removal challenge, according to recently published municipal data. In the last five years, the island has received as much snow as usual, but it was much more concentrated during the months of January and February.
