Who has the white stuff?We look at the snow-clearing policies of six
Canadian cities to see how they measure up
By: Mia Rabson
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/who-has-the-white-stuff-288134561.ht…
OTTAWA -- It's early January in the nation's capital and the city is
digging out from just the second storm of the year.
On Saturday, Jan. 3, Ottawa had to deal with an 18-centimetre dump of snow,
followed the next day by 11 millimetres of rain and freezing rain. But by
Sunday night, just over 24 hours after the storm began, most streets were
clear, residential sidewalks had been plowed and cars and people were
moving around the city without much trouble.
[image: Sean Kilpatrick/ THE CANADIAN PRESS]
<http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/800*577/6460839.jpg>
Enlarge Image
<http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/800*577/6460839.jpg>
Sean Kilpatrick/ THE CANADIAN PRESS (CP)
SNOW REMOVAL BUDGETS
*2014 budget breakdown per centimetre of snow*
*MONTREAL*
$151.5 million (annual budget)
for 184.2 cm of snow
$822,475.57 per cm
*TORONTO*
$85 million for 139.6 cm
$608,882.53 per cm
*EDMONTON*
$60 million for 102.9 cm
$583,090.38 per cm
*OTTAWA*
$58 million for 166.6 cm
$348,139.26 per cm
*WINNIPEG*
$40.6 million for 118.4 cm
$342,905.40 per cm
*HALIFAX**
$24.2 million for 287.5 cm
$84,173.92 per cm
* Halifax budget and snowfall was done on fiscal year 2013-14, not calendar
year 2014
More than 2,000 kilometres away in Winnipeg, things weren't so rosy. After
16 cm of snow fell on Jan. 1 and 2, new Mayor Brian Bowman was steamed
about the quality of snow clearing.
He said he's looking at whether more of the work should be given to city
crews rather than private contractors and investigating whether private
contractors are meeting their required service standards.
He told reporters Wednesday more sand should have been put down and more
effort made to remove ruts.
Slippery streets and the buildup of ruts last winter led to a huge outcry
from Winnipeg drivers and contributed to an increase in accidents that
compelled Manitoba Public Insurance to ask for a rate increase to cover the
added claims.
Snow clearing and winter street maintenance are major headaches in almost
every city east of British Columbia. Unpredictable weather and high
expectations of residents mean even in small snowstorms, the phones ring
off the hook with complaints.
"It's a very visible public service that really impacts everyone," said
Darrin Natolino, superintendent of winter works for the Halifax Regional
Municipality.
If you want the gold standard of snow clearing, one must look to Quebec,
where Montreal spent more on snow clearing last year than Winnipeg has in
the last five years.
With a budget of $155 million this year, the city will deploy 370 road and
sidewalk salting trucks, and 1,000 snowplows, graders, front-end loaders
and sidewalk plows, to clear more than 10,000 km of roads and sidewalks of
snow and ice. As soon as 2.5 cm of snow is on the ground, the city goes
into clearing mode and doesn't stop until the city is clear, usually within
five days unless it's a major storm.
Montreal also removes most of the snowbanks, spending as much as 70 per
cent of its snow-clearing budget on snow removal.
In 2013-14, Montreal spent nearly $840,000 for every centimetre of snow
that fell.
Snowfall is so unpredictable, all cities find it hard to budget. In
November and December 2013, Halifax had to clear away 83 cm of snow. A year
later, only seven cm fell in those months. Last year, Winnipeg blew its
yearly snow-clearing budget by the end of March. Ottawa and Toronto were
well over budget before the end of February.
All cities classify streets as different priority levels; most clear
expressways and main arteries to the pavement but leave a little snowpack
on residential streets. But that is about where the similarities end.
Each city has different methods of clearing. Some, like Winnipeg, use
mostly private contractors. Others split the work between the two, while
cities such as Edmonton use almost exclusively city crews to do the work.
Toronto and Ottawa use monitoring stations around the city to keep track of
surface temperatures and dew points, helping predict when ice is forming
and keeping notes on when precipitation begins. It helps those cities
deploy crews as soon as possible.
Most clear sidewalks, although Halifax just started doing that, Toronto
doesn't do it on residential streets downtown and Edmonton doesn't do it on
residential streets at all. Toronto and Winnipeg will clear part of the
windrows left in front of residential driveways but the rest generally
leave that to residents. Edmonton recycles most of the sand it uses.
Before a storm ever begins, crews in Ottawa and Montreal hit the ground
with salters and de-icers, laying down a brine liquid to pre-treat roads
and prevent snow from adhering to the pavement, which makes it much easier
to clear. Ottawa then sends out its plows to the main roads as soon as the
snow starts to fall, while most other cities wait for at least two or three
centimetres to accumulate.
"We get out there as soon as we can to prevent that bond (to the
pavement)," said Luc Gagné, manager of road services in Ottawa.
Cities such as Winnipeg and Edmonton are at a disadvantage here because
it's usually too cold for salt or pre-treat brine liquid to work.
Ottawa also aims to have main roads cleared within four hours of the end of
a storm, and residential streets are to be done within 10 hours. Winnipeg
and Edmonton aim to clear the main roads within 36 hours and residential
roads not for five days.
It's hard to compare costs directly, because different climates, different
amounts of snowfall, and different city sizes all affect what is done.
And standards generally go out the window when a major storm hits, because
even the cities with budgets like Montreal's can't keep up.
On Jan. 5, people returned to work and school in that city following a
weekend storm that delivered 20 cm of snow and 30 mm of rain that left the
ground so icy some people strapped on skates instead of boots to traverse
the sidewalks.
Toronto knows this problem all too well.
Trevor Tenn, acting director of transportation services in Toronto, says as
soon as someone outside the city starts asking about snow clearing, he
knows 1999 is going to come up. More than 118 cm of snow fell on the city
in just two weeks, prompting mayor Mel Lastman to call in the army to help
dig out the country's largest metropolis.
"We'll never live that one down," said Tenn.
Here's the breakdown:
*Amount of snowfall required before crews hit freeways, main arteries with
plows*
Ottawa: as soon as snowfall begins
Montreal: 2.5 cm
Halifax: 2 cm Toronto: 2 cm for expressways, 5 cm for major and minor
arterials and collector streets
Edmonton: 3 cm
Winnipeg: 3 cm
*Time expected to clear freeways and main arteries from the end of a storm*
Ottawa: 2-4 hours
Toronto: 2-3 hours for expressways, 6-14 hours for other main roads.
Halifax: 12 hours
Montreal: less than five days if less than 20 cm, greater than five days if
more than 30 cm (this applies to the entire city not just the main streets)
Edmonton: 36 hours
Winnipeg: 36 hours
*Snowfall amount required before residential streets are cleared*
Montreal: 2.5 cm
Ottawa: 7 cm
Toronto: 8 cm
Edmonton: 10 cm (clearing doesn't begin until after main streets are
cleared)
Winnipeg: 10 cm (clearing doesn't begin until after main streets are
cleared)
Halifax: 10 cm
*Time expected to clear residential roads of snow*
Ottawa: 10 hours
Toronto: 14-16 hours
Halifax: 36 hours
Montreal: within five days (Unless more than 30 cm of snow falls, then it
can be longer)
Winnipeg: five days
Edmonton: five days
*Kilometres of roads to plow*
Toronto: 5,600 km
Ottawa: 5,700 km
Montreal: 5,600 km
Edmonton: 4,700 km
Winnipeg: 4,400 km
Halifax: 3,800 km
*Amount of salt, sand, pre-treat liquid used*
Ottawa: 180,000 tonnes salt, 4.5 million litres of pretreat liquid
Montreal: 140,000 tonnes salt
Toronto: 130,000 tonnes salt, 2.3 million litres of pretreat liquid
Winnipeg: 70,000 tonnes sand, 20,000 tonnes salt
Edmonton: 18,800 tonnes salt, 97,691 tonnes of street sand, 34,354 tonnes
of rock chips, 143,981 litres of pretreat liquid
Halifax: n/a
mia.rabson(a)freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 10, 2015 A6
Bike Week Winnipeg <http://www.bikeweekwinnipeg.com/> is busy planning for
2015 and we are planning to make it bigger and better than 2014. Due to the
new Anti-Spam legislation we are no longer able to email Bike Week updates
to past subscribers. Whether you were a past participant or new to Bike
Week, please sign up for our e-newsletter
<http://www.bikeweekwinnipeg.com/register/> and stay informed of all the
fun events planned for 2015.
If you would like to learn more about this event please visit our website at
www.bikeweekwinnipeg.com <http://www.bikeweekwinnipeg.com> .
Thanks
Dave
o
_ ( \ _
(X)\ /(X)
Not local, but of interest - unfortunately, this is more common that it should be in North America - reversing a decision on a road diet:
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2015/01/why-one-florida-city-reversed-its-ro…
David Patman, P. Eng.
Transit Planner
Winnipeg Transit | Service Development Division
421 Osborne Street | Winnipeg, Manitoba R3L 2A2
P: 204-986-5737 | dpatman(a)winnipeg.ca<mailto:dpatman@winnipeg.ca>
Good Evening,
Green Action Centre will be hosting this upcoming webinar from 12 - 1 pm on
Tuesday January 20th at the Manitoba Eco-Centre (3rd Floor, 303 Portage
Avenue), followed by a brief discussion.
Hope you can bring your lunch and join us!
Jackie
[image: Active Transportation Policy Case Studies and Maps Webinar]
Active Transportation Policy Case Studies and Maps Webinar
What: Webinar
When: January 20, 2015
Time: 12:00 PM CDT
Active Transportation Policy Case Studies and Maps Webinar
The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer will host a one-hour webinar on
January 20th from 12:00pm-1:00pm CDT. By attending you'll learn about our
active transportation policy resources and how they can be applied to your
work:
- Active Transportation Policy Case Studies
<http://www.cancerview.ca/policycasestudies>
- Active Transportation Policy Case Study Summary Sheets
<hhtp://www.cancerview.ca/policycasestudies>
- Canadian Municipal Active Transportation Policy Map
<http://www.cancerview.ca/cv/portal/Home/PreventionAndScreening/PSProfession…>
- Provincial/Territorial Active Transportation Policy Maps
<http://www.cancerview.ca/cv/portal/Home/PreventionAndScreening/PSProfession…>
**Note: This webinar will only be offered in English.*
--
*Jackie Avent* | Active and Safe Routes to School
Green Action Centre <http://greenactioncentre.ca/>
3rd floor, 303 Portage Avenue* | *(204) 925-3773 *|* Find us here
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/content/ecocentre-directions-and-travel-options/>
Green Action Centre is your non-profit hub for greener living.
Support our work by becoming a member
<http://greenactioncentre.ca/support/become-a-member/>
Hello everyone,
Please mark your calendar for this year's line-up of excellent webinars
from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP). Note
that they are typically held on the 3rd Wednesday of the month from
2:00-3:00 pm local time.
Green Action Centre and Bike Winnipeg partner to pay for these webinars and
then guest host a local viewing at no charge to anyone who wishes to join
us for the viewing and discussion afterward. These take place at the
EcoCentre boardroom (3rd Floor, 303 Portage Ave above MEC).
I will send out more details on the January 21st webinar closer to the
date. Hope you can join us!
cheers,
Beth
* * * * *
Jan 21
Level of Service for Pedestrians and Cyclists
Feb 18
New Tools for Estimating Walking and Bicycling Demand
Mar 18Pedestrian and Bicycle Counting Programs
Apr 15Legal Rights and Issues for Pedestrians and Bicyclists
May 20
Law Enforcement Strategies to Improve Safety for Peds and Bikes
Jun 17First Mile / Last Mile Connections to Transit
Jul 15Health in All Policies
Aug 19
Streetscape Design to Improve Walking and Bicycling
Sep 16Shared Streets, Slow Streets
Oct 21
Tactical Urbanism
Nov 18Bike Boxes
Dec 16
The Best Guides and Manuals You've Never Heard Of
