Residential snow plowing began on Monday and with the plows continuing today, windrows are on top of mind for residents. Transportation Services Manager for the City, Robert Carroll says plowing these roads allows for emergency vehicles and other service vehicles to get through. Carroll explains that with windrows piling up, he doesn’t want to leave anyone unable to handle them.
“There is a program that is available for elderly people and people with mobility issues. They can apply to the city and it is a very simple process. It is a matter of coming into our service centre and they will be on the program. There is upwards of 1000 driveways that are involved in this program.”
He says if it gets to a situation where there are unreasonably sized windrows in your driveway, you can call the customer contact centre. Carroll explains that a supervisor will then come assess the situation but they like to keep the windrows at 18 inches or less. The old system was changed in 2014 from having the windrows in the centre of the road to those piles of snow being pushed to the sides.
“People know when we are coming and they can move their vehicles off the roads. It is a much better system than the old system but there are trade offs. People have to deal with the windrow themselves.”
Carroll explains in the old system of snow plowing, weeks would go by before the roads were finished. He says this current system has 5 days to complete the clearing of snow with the plows coming before each neighborhood’s garbage day.