It will continue to look a lot like …

Friday morning, Ville de Laval spokesperson Marc Laforge estimated that the city's clean up operations would be completed Tuesday. This, he said, was consistent with the expectations of municipal officials. The cost of the operation is estimated at $1.3 million.

"A snow accumulation of 30 cm is a dandy storm, a storm of major-league proportions. In cases like this, snow-removal operations take up to a week," he affirmed.

Mr. Laforge noted that removal operations began Monday evening, even before the snow stopped falling. In all, a task force of 550 was mobilized to carry out clean-up operations throughout the week.

"On narrow streets, it was impossible to clear sidewalks because this would dump too much snow on the roads, and these would become even tighter," Mr. Laforge explained, in answer to a question concerning Quintal Street which runs parallel to des Laurentides, one way. The city spokesperson noted that in some districts, snow was cleared from one sidewalk out of two. Snow removal occurs on a priority basis. The streets around schools are at the top of the list, followed by bus routes and principal arteries, with residential neighbourhoods bringing up the rear.

Marc Laforge emphasized that even though alternate parking regulations are not in effect on the entire island, the collaboration of all residents is essential. "On certain streets, we have to sound the horn because cars are left in the way of snow removal trucks. City snow removal workers make an effort, but we need the cooperation of the population," he specified.

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(Photo: Martin Alarie)

The STL reported a reduced ridership Monday, probably due to school closings. Spokesperson Marie-Celine Bourgault noted that certain bus routes experienced Monday and Tuesday delays. "Busses, like cars, have to follow the flow of traffic where there are no reserved lanes. And where there are reserved lanes, they were buried in snow," she said. The STL took many calls from users asking when to expect their busses, bun this was to no avail. On Friday morning, Mrs. Bourgault told Courrier Laval that the situation had returned to normal, following the unblocking of principal arteries. (G.F.)