Londoners may be getting spared from the winter weather this week, but there won’t be much of a break for snow removal operators.
Much of the city is still feeling the effects from the latest winter storm, and it’s expected to take a couple days before snow removal crews are able to get everything cleared.
Main streets are mainly bare and wet with some slushy sections, but many side streets in local subdivisions have yet to be plowed. The same can be said for sidewalks, which are also still in bad shape in many areas, making things difficult for those with mobility issues.
City crews were out all day Monday trying to clear the heavy snow with the manager of roads and transportation for the city, John Parsons, telling 980 CFPL it could take a couple of days to complete.
“Certainly with this system and with the amount of snow we’ve been moving around the last couple days, it’s going to be a number of days cleaning this up. We’ll probably be removing snow from the downtown area as the snow banks have really increased with this last system.”
“Some of the roads we’ve plowed once or twice, we’re still going to have to go back and do them again. We’re just working through it with all our road plows, sanders, salters and sidewalk units.”
It’s been a busy start to the year for snow removal, but Parsons says he won’t know how much of his $13.5-million budget has been impacted until he receives all the invoices from contractors. He says they’ve been too busy plowing but will have a better idea of figures later this month.
As for what’s in the forecast, Environment Canada’s Mark Schuster tells 980 CFPL we’ll have today to try to clear as much of the snow as possible before we see a melt-off tomorrow and Thursday.
“The temperatures will quickly rise above the freezing mark, looking up 4 C for Wednesday, and even warmer Thursday with showers expected.”
He says that warmup should help get rid of the snow, which could create some additional problems.
“With these temperatures and all the snow on the ground, there’s going to be considerable melting,” said Shuster.
“If you have snow on storm drains it’s probably a good idea to clear that away so the water has somewhere to go.”
The cold will return Friday, and Schuster says there could be another snow system making its way into the region Saturday.
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