The city of Montreal is promising to improve snow removal after the last storm left ice on streets and sidewalks that is only now being cleared away.
Executive committee member in charge of snow removal Jean-François Parenteau said he erroneously depended on weather forecasts that called for milder weather this past weekend he thought would melt the ice as well as another snowfall which he said would have meant more snow that he planned on removing along with the ice.
Parenteau and Plante told reporters they've asked the Quebec government for permission to open a temporary snow dump at the old Blue Bonnets site since neighbouring snow dumps are full or nearly full.
Nous ferons l’acquisition de ces broyeurs à glace, que j’appelle affectueusement des « croque-glace », dont les résultats étaient concluants suite à un projet-pilote dans Ville-Marie #polmtl pic.twitter.com/1Harx7VjAZ
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) January 31, 2018
Plante said they're also offering boroughs the opportunity to purchase ice-chopping Bombardier-type machinery that they've been testing with success in the Ville Marie borough but would be available only for next winter.
Parenteau said he also wants to meet with borough mayors soon to discuss other measures to improve snow removal.
One of those mayors is Luis Miranda who has a meeting scheduled with Parenteau in March.
Miranda ordered snow removal in his borough of Anjou last week before the central city did and is now threatened with a fine for violating regulations.