Canada/Snow removal bounces back at Trois-Rivières city council

Trois-Rivières residents took advantage of the first city council meeting of the year to call on the city to change its snow-clearing methods, particularly with regard to snow treatment on streets with medians.

Alain Montembeault, a resident of Rue Bourjoly in Trois-Rivières, handed in a petition signed by 35 local residents on Tuesday evening, criticizing the city's new snow removal policy.

They are asking the city to return to storing more snow on medians, rather than on citizens' property.

I'd like them to go back to the old methods, because that leaves a pretty high backfill of snow [...]. There are a lot of houses that aren't ready to receive a snow load like that on their lots," says Mr. Montembeault.

Lucie Gervais, a citizen who lives in a traffic circle, expressed her dismay to the city council that the snow that was backfilled in her driveway simply prevented her from leaving her house over the weekend.

The snow was so compacted in my driveway that we couldn't get out, I have a neighbor who took pity on me [...I had a neighbor who took pity on me [...] because my snowplow hadn't come yet, but he told me he was afraid he was going to break his snowblower because it was so compacted," she says.

The City of Trois-Rivières has changed its snow-clearing procedures this winter. The mayor of Trois-Rivières, Jean Lamarche, explained during the meeting that it is now aiming for a 50/50 ratio between the snow that goes to citizens and that which is moved to the medians.

Jean Lamarche asserts that this target is in place in particular to reduce the amount of snow transported to the heavily-used municipal snow depots. However, he invites residents to contact their municipal councillor if they feel that this ratio is not being respected in their part of town.

The mayor indicates that the council's elected representatives met on Tuesday with a public works representative to try to find a solution to citizens' snow-clearing problems.

Nearly 150 complaints

The City of Trois-Rivières received 147 snow-clearing complaints after the January 10 snowstorm and before the second heavy snowfall.

City councillor Pascale Albernhe-Lahaie, who represents the Rivières district, would like to see changes made quickly at the City, not least because of the health risks associated with shovelling.

That's what I'm hearing, about people who need to use axes to cut ice blocks that are too hard, and who aren't physically fit to do so. I'm very worried about these people," she says.

Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/