It’s been a few days since a series of storms blanketed the area with snow. Work to clear the streets and sidewalks began a week ago, just ahead of the wintry weather's arrival, and continues.
Most, if not all, streets have seen at least one pass of a plow at this point, as have many sidewalks.
“We're going back now to do all these spots that need a little bit more clean-up on the residential streets, but we have completed a round or two,” Eleanor Gillon, the city’s public works compliance specialist, told GuelphToday on Wednesday afternoon.
“We are actually at the point now where we're almost or we've started snow removal,” she added. “Our equipment on sidewalks is almost done the secondary routes, and then they'll be in residentials shortly.”
Guelph has about 1,400 km of roads and another 750 km of sidewalk.
In addition to clearing the paths themselves, efforts are underway to bring down some of the snowbanks that have grown around intersections and other areas deemed to create a safety concern.
“In terms of removal, we’re focused on downtown,” Gillon said. “Obviously there’s not a lot of room downtown to store snow.”
Snow removed by the city is taken to a Wellington Street facility specifically designed to hold snow until it evaporates in the spring. Salt and other contaminants are left behind, which are then treated and disposed of, Gillon explained.
That facility can hold about 93,000 cubic metres of snow. Given the area saw about 30 cm of snow in the past week, Gillion said the storage capacity is expected to be about 35 per cent full when current clean-up efforts are completed.
A significant weather event was declared on Feb. 12 and remains in effect … sort of.
That declaration initially came with an on-street parking ban meant to give plows and other equipment operators room to remove snow from roads.
On Tuesday, the ban was lifted under some conditions – the vehicle is parked where on-street parking is typically allowed, and there’s still at least three metres of clearance between the parked vehicle and the opposite curb in order to allow emergency vehicles through.
If three metres of space isn’t maintained, vehicles could be ticketed or towed, notes a post on the city’s website.
“In the coming weeks, we may need to restrict parking on certain streets to remove snow,” the post continues. “When that happens, we’ll post signs in affected areas 48 hours in advance so you can make plans to move your vehicle until the work is completed.”
Because clean-up efforts are still underway, it’s difficult to estimate what kind of budget impact they’re having, Gillon said.
About 50 full-time public works employees have been working around the clock, with three eight-hour shifts, she explained. As a result, there is no overtime pay associated with weekday plowing. However, weekend plowing and plow operations from Monday, Family Day, will come at a higher cost.
In addition, the city is making use of about 30 temporary staff to tackle the snow, Gillon said, with about 40 parks and forestry department workers also pulled into the fold when needed.
The city uses a variety of equipment, including tractors, a loader and pickup trucks with plows, to remove snow from roadways. In addition to smaller, trackless plows, city sidewalks are cleared using Kubotas and other small parks department vehicles affixed with plows.