It's frightful but it won't last forever: scenes from a Laval winter wonderland that has just about tested everyone's patience. Not to worry, Spring can't be too far behind.
(Photos: Martin Alarie)
Side streets given snow removal priority
Strategy necessitated by public security needs: people cone first, says city
Laval's blue collar workers have spent the better part of this past week removing the 31 centimetres of fresh snow that fell last weekend. The priority was put on residential and side streets.
Usually, says Martin Savard, superintendent of public roads and the person heading the city's snow removal operations, it is the main arteries and their sidewalks that are cleared first.
"We've changed our strategy. We want to make sure that emergency vehicles won't be impeded." During last weekend's storm, between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, the Department of Public Works maintained constant contact with police officials to ensure that ambulances would be free to get to their destinations.
"There were 400 pieces of equipment on the roads," relates Mr. Savard. At the first hint of an emergency we quickly dispatched the necessary equipment. We took no chances. We have a good feeling that people aren't objecting to the strategy we've adopted."
Eight days
By Tuesday morning, 15% of the snow had been removed. "With a snowfall of 15 centimetres, it takes four or five days" to complete the process. "We had to deal with twice the amount," says Mr. Savard, implying that it might take up to eight days to remove the latest accumulation.
In times of this kind of accumulation, the smaller snow-clearing machines that handle sidewalks have to wait until the snow blowers come along in order to make the work more efficient.
"It's a record winter, but it's going to end at some point," says Mr. Savard. Workers are beginning to tire, he admits. "But Laval has not had to exceed the ceiling set for hours of work dictated by provincial legislation."
Law 430 regulates the hours associated with the operating of heavy machinery. Montreal has already asked the government to wave the maximum level of hours so as to allow workers to undertake all snow removal on the island. Unlike Montreal, because it schedules its shifts differently Laval has not had to submit a request for a waver.
As to where to dump the snow, it appears that the three sites added at the end of February will suffice for the rest of the winter, Mr. Savard believes.
Train, bus and metro
The Montreal Transit Authority (STM) adjusted its Monday rush hour services to compensate for the additional number of passengers who wanted to travel on public transit. Rush hour was extended to 10:00 am in the morning and to 7:00 pm in the evening.
The measure was repeated on Tuesday morning, with regular rush-hour services brought back on Tuesday afternoon. "People returned to their habit of taking the car," explained STM spokesperson Marianne Rouette.
Suburban commuter trains were spared the effects of the storm, sums up Mélanie Nadeau of the Metropolitan Transport Agency (AMT). There's no point at this stage in adding more wagons to trains or more trains to the schedule.
(130 new double-decker wagons will be added to the system starting at the end of 2009 and thirty more to the new line to the east, representing 55% of the total additional needs foreseen because of increased use.)
Apart from the slowdown caused by roads narrowed by snow mounds, bus service provided by the Laval Transit System will not be unduly affected, indicates Marie-Celine Bourgault, the STM's director of marketing and communication.
By mid-afternoon Friday, March 14, city workers had managed to remove between 55% and 60% of the snow which had accumulated on Laval streets, according to the head of snow removal operations, Martin Savard.
Photos: Snow I, Snow 2, Snow 3
(Photos: Martin Alarie)
Météo: Laval, 20 juillet 2008 / 21°C
/ Couvert
/ Vents: 7 Km/h / Humidité relative: 78 % 
Steven Guilbeault - Chronique environnement
Richard Cléroux - Le fouineur politique
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