Faced with the first winter storm of 2022, which could leave up to 30 centimeters of precipitation, the City of Montreal will trigger a snow loading operation on Tuesday morning.
Posted at 1:15 p.m.
“There are strong gusts of wind outside, so the snow that we currently receive and which ends up on the roofs is then blown everywhere. We will therefore first carry out several clearing phases on Monday, then we will load the snow on Tuesday, “explains to The Press the City’s administrative spokesperson, Philippe Sabourin.
Thus, it is from 7 a.m. on Tuesday that the City’s 2,200 trucks will be in action. They will have to clear approximately 10,000 kilometers of public roads.
To avoid a tow and find your parking lot more quickly, the authorities remind Montrealers to “respect the signs” in place on each street. The Info-Neige mobile application can be used to check the status of the snow load live. On Twitter, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, certified Monday that “the teams are on the ground to clear the snow from the sidewalks and streets”. “Be careful in your travels,” she advised.
A health context
Despite COVID-19, which requires certain adjustments, including the cleaning of trucks at each new shift start, Montreal does not anticipate any significant delays in loading snow.
“Of course it takes a little longer, with the rules related to COVID-19, but for an Olympic sport like picking up snow in Montreal, it doesn’t make much difference. It’s not major, ”says Mr. Sabourin on this subject.
The City claims to have access to “all the necessary staff” to carry out the operation quickly, or about 3,000 employees in total. A snow loading operation is traditionally triggered “after an accumulation of 10 to 15 centimeters, or when the accumulation creates aggravating conditions”. At the local level, the boroughs can decree “two local loads per year in order to adapt to their local realities”.
This is the second snow load of the season. A first operation had been held at the beginning of December, to ensure that the sidewalks did not turn into a skating rink for the winter. At that time, the city’s new snow removal manager, Maja Vodanovic, indicated that the main objective is to avoid the scenario of last winter, during which a hasty accumulation of snow had blocked the water drainage. for the rest of the season.
Montreal hopes this year to be able to offer less slippery sidewalks to pedestrians, especially vulnerable pedestrians. “It was very important to remove this mound of snow so that we have an ice-free winter on the sidewalks,” said Ms.me Vodanovic in December. In any case, this is what we hope to achieve so that people can move around safely. »