Plowing through
Province, City of Charlottetown will have equipment out to move snow and handle any flooding
More than 90 pieces of equipment across P.E.I. will be tackling the first major snowstorm of the winter.
Stephen Szwarc, acting director of the province’s Highway Maintenance Division, said they’ve been in storm preparation mode for the past few days.
“We’ve been checking the trucks, we’ve been checking all of the equipment, calling all the operators to make sure they are ready,’’ Szwarc said Thursday. “(We are) giving them updates on the forecast, calling the contractors as well, letting them know where we’re going to see the weather come in and how quickly.’’
The province has 42 tandem plows and a total of up to 90 pieces of equipment at its disposal.
That includes plows, graders, 4x4s, loaders and blowers, as well as single-axle plows.
“We’d (also) like to direct people to our 511 website and they can check the road cameras and they can see the road conditions on there. Our dispatch offices will keep those up to date throughout the storm and, basically, if they have any questions they can call their respective dispatch offices in their counties for updates. As well . . . if they see anything on the road that needs to be brought to our attention, we’d appreciate those phone calls.’’
Those numbers are Prince County, 902-888-8275, Queens County, 902-368-4770, and Kings County, 902-652-8960. Islanders can call 511 on their phones as well.
The City of Charlottetown has also been in snow preparation mode.
“We’re moving some of our bigger pieces of equipment around the city, getting them all stationed accordingly,’’ said Scott Adams, manager of public works.
“Some of our bigger plow gear, like our loaders, are moving their plow blades into the downtown core, and our mechanics (have been) going through our machinery just fine-tuning some things and making sure things are ready.’’
All of the city’s one-tonne trucks are also outfitted with barricades to block off streets in case of inland flooding. The forecast was predicting a stage 2 storm surge or below.
Based on historical surges of this size, the city expects there may be flooding in low-lying areas such as the Victoria Park Roadway (including the areas where the roadway intersects with Brighton Road and Terry
Fox Drive), Water Street near Weymouth and Prince streets, and Haviland Street in the area of Dorchester and King streets.
As for tackling the snow, the city has eight plow and salt trucks and six loaders for the downtown while the contractors run with about a dozen pieces of machinery, including a combination of loaders and plow trucks.
“We are ready for them,’’ Adams said.
The city also reminds the public of the overnight parking ban which runs from 1 a.m. until 6 a.m. City council hasn’t given final reading yet to the time change. That is expected to happen on Monday night. At that point, the parking ban will be in effect from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“Our guys are out there trying to keep the streets open, especially in poor visibility. The fewer obstacles they have to drive around, the better it is for them to get it cleaned up as quickly as possible.’’