THUNDER BAY – Mother Nature did not do road clean-up crews any favours on Tuesday.
Brad Adams, the city’s manager of roads, said the early morning start to the snowstorm meant the 66 city staff dedicated to snow removal, as well as 14 contract employees, got a late start on removing the snow once it hit the municipal minimum.
It also means residential street clearing will likely have to wait until Wednesday to begin.
“Crews have been out since 5 a.m. this morning addressing the collectors and arterial roadways,” Adams said.
“Due to the late start we’re continuing to work on them and probably all day we’ll be working on those and getting into residential areas tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.”
It will probably take three full days to clear away the snow, he added, noting they’ve also started sidewalk snow removal along the arterials and collectors.
Adams said typically he likes to get crews out by 2 a.m. to start clearing away snow.
“It was a little slow to start, a little later than normal. Plus then we had the traffic starting at 8 a.m. All those little things slowed us down – plus being heavy and wet, it’s just a little harder pushing with the graders.”
Adams reminded residents that calendar parking goes into effect on Tuesday, requiring vehicles to park on certain sides of the street on odd or even days of the month.
“Be vigilant of what parking restrictions are on their street and abide by those parking regulations,” Adams said.
“It does pose a challenge for us and it makes things easier for us if people follow the parking restrictions. It will leave one side open where we can officially motor down one side of the road to plow it. If we do have vehicles on the road sometimes it’s tight for a grader to get through, or even a school bus or an emergency vehicle.”
