MONTREAL – In the midst of a mammoth snow-clearing operation, the City of Montreal is removing snow from its streets based on its protocols.
It started clearing seven central boroughs first, almost as the storm ended Sunday evening. Then it plans to clear the other 12 boroughs.
But an integral part of these plans is the regular game of hopscotch that city motorists have to play if they park on the streets.
Streets have to be vacated in 12-hour periods once temporary orange signs go up, and the busier streets take priority. That means that drivers who are slow on the draw may find their cars towed if they don’t clear out fast enough.
“The time that it takes to remove a car slows down the convoy, and so hence it is a problem for our teams,” said Jacques-Alain Lavallée, who added that, on average, the city tows 5,000 cars per storm.
City officials say clearing snow from this storm will cost around $20 million and take four days per 15 cm.
The storm dropped about 30 cm on Montreal, cancelled dozens of flights out of Pierre Trudeau International Airport and closed the westbound lane of the A-40 because of a multi-car accident.
“Everybody looks stunned,” said Helen Moore, who was trying to get around NDG riding in her daughter’s car. “I think it’s affected everybody.”
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