Toronto is vowing to do better on its snow removal plans this year as winter approaches, promising the frustration across the city last year won’t be repeated.
Mayor Olivia Chow said the city would be overhauling how it handles major snow events this year, with a focus on co-ordination and communication.
In February, Toronto ground to a halt after a major snowstorm blocked city streets, took days to clear and resulted in massive, frozen snowbanks on sidewalks.
“Last winter, the city’s snow clearing just didn’t work very well,” Chow acknowledged on Tuesday.
“Residents were frustrated; some had difficulties getting out of their homes, others had difficulty moving out of the city. It was hard, and the reports didn’t match what people were experiencing, what they were seeing on the street…. That needs to change.”
Both now and during the winter, Chow blamed the contracts signed under former mayor John Tory for failing to include snow removal as part of clearing duties.
“Can you imagine signing a contract and you forgot to add in that part about removal?” Chow said. “You can shuffle the snow, keep shuffling, where is it going to land? It’s going to land somewhere, and then you have to remove it.”
Chow said her new plan, agreed to in principle by councillors at executive committee, had five pillars.
They include considering revisiting contracts when they’re up for renewal, ending a 311 blackout period for reporting snow problems and buying new equipment.
At the heart of the new plan is a centralized response aiming to pull together disparate parties involved in snow clearing to ensure rapid action across the city.
New roads will also be designated as snow routes, where vehicles can be rapidly towed in the event of a major snowstorm.
When the plan will be tested remains to be seen.
Global News chief meteorologist Anthony Farnell said the first flurries could arrive as early as this week, but major storms won’t come for some time.
“Rain will mix with snow on Sunday, with more flurries likely Monday,” he said.
“This is not a big storm, but a sign that winter is right around the corner. We still don’t know when the first big storm of the season will be but winter weather looks to start early with colder temperatures and above-normal snowfall forecast for the winter ahead.”