Snow, rain, wind, ice, sleet… The weather cocktail that will hit Quebec in the coming hours risks making traffic difficult on the roads and sidewalks, which prompts the City of Montreal to ask the population to ‘use public transport for essential travel.
“We invite those who can work from home to stay at home,” asked Philippe Sabourin, spokesperson for the City, at a press briefing Tuesday in the city center.
At the same time, he adds that more than 1,000 municipal employees will be hard at work from the start of the winter storm, Tuesday evening, with the “obsession” of making the sidewalks passable as soon as possible, especially around transport routes. public and emergency services.
“We are going to spread massive quantities of small rock, what we call abrasive, but also flux, therefore salt, without skimping on the quantities,” he says. But the forecast conditions are imposing: we expect to receive snow first, then heavy amounts of rain, and we will see if it will be sleet or freezing rain. »
Different types of precipitation will require city officials to adapt to changing conditions. The expected strong winds and the risk of icy conditions also raise fears about broken branches, which would have the effect of slowing down the maintenance of sidewalks and roads.
It takes up to eight hours for maintenance teams to go around all the sidewalks in the city, underlines Mr. Sabourin. This means that certain portions of sidewalks could be difficult to pass for a certain time before municipal employees pass.
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- 6000 kilometers
- Distance covered by sidewalks in the City of Montreal
City of Montreal
- 4000 kilometers
- Distance covered by roadways in the City of Montreal
City of Montreal