Snow emergency allows extended plowing shifts
Anyone who didn’t have to be on the streets was urged to stay off of them as the City of Windsor declared a snow emergency on Sunday and cleanup crews struggled to keep up.
Friday’s storm dumped nearly 20 centimetres on the ground, and snowplow operators were just starting on residential routes when another snowfall on Saturday brought the total to nearly 30 cm overall on sections of the city, leading to the emergency declaration early on Sunday morning.
The city urged motorists to remain off roads and to remove all parked cars from city streets to allow for plowing to be completed.
To help get parked cars off the roads, city officials announced all arenas, community centre and other municipal parking lots were being cleared to allow residents to park free of charge until further notice.
Declaring the snow emergency on Sunday was required, in large part, to allow snow plow drivers to exceed their regulated maximum time behind the wheel, said city engineer Mark Winterton.
The city has 46 plow and salt truck drivers deployed.
They had been working 12 hours on and 12 hours off throughout the weekend, meaning 23 drivers were on the road at any given time.
“We are exceeding their requirements under the regulations,” Winterton said. “In an emergency situation, we are allowed to do that.”
He said as of just before noon on Sunday about 80 per cent of city streets in Windsor had been plowed. He anticipated every street to be cleared by early Monday morning.
“They should be all done today — but that depends on what Mother Nature has in store for us,” Winterton told the Star Sunday.
Windsor Fire and Rescue Services also asked residents to keep fire hydrants clear of snow, so if there’s a fire, it will be easier for fire crews to gain access to the hydrant.
Freezing rain and ice pellets were falling on Sunday morning, making roads slick, but all precipitation ended by noon on Sunday, finally providing some weather relief.
There were a handful of accidents on local roads over the weekend due to the slippery conditions, but nothing beyond the norm for a mid-winter day, said Windsor police Sgt. Frank Bauer.
“If you must leave your home by car today, please stay alert, slow down and stay in control,” the city said in a statement released Sunday morning. “Leave plenty of time to reach your destination safely.”
“It’s winter, so it’s nothing out of the ordinary,” said Bauer. “If you are out there, we just want people to be careful.”
That thick layer of snow blanketing Windsor is going to get slushy with Environment Canada forecasting a warm-up on Wednesday with temperatures reaching 3 C and up to 8 C on Thursday.