The reaction people may have to how the City of Winnipeg goes about its snow clearing may be subjective, according to the mayor, but the work done is always consistent.
Speaking to 680 CJOB, Mayor Scott Gillingham said city and contract crews work hard to make sure the level of work done to clear up the snow is consistent. He added that such work is done even if the city goes through its entire budget for snow clearing.
“We don’t clear necessarily according to budget, we clear according to policy. So even if we eat through all of the snow clearing budget, we keep clearing the streets and the sidewalks and the active transportation paths when the snow comes,” Gillingham said.
Most of the city’s snow clearing fleet hit the streets last week, following a dump of snow in the province’s capital. In an earlier interview with Global News, the city’s street maintenance manager Michael Cantor said Winnipeg was now in a new budget cycle.
“We are in a new budget cycle…. We’re just starting. We’ll have to see what this winter and half of next winter will give us,” Cantor said.
According to Gillingham, the city also added several new pieces of specialized sidewalk clearing equipment to its arsenal this year. He said that purchase was made as an investment to provide a better service to residents. He said the older equipment was either too light or just didn’t get the job done well enough.
“I think we are always and should always be looking for ways to do things better and to deliver services so that people get real value for their money, whether it’s efficiencies or a better investment,” Gillingham said.
The mayor also noted that the city budgets about $36 million for snow clearing every year — although it has gone way over it in the last few years. He said the city spent $87 million in 2022 and $42 million in 2023.