Number of crews to be boosted to 83 on weekend

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The snow piled up along the sides of streets in the city’s core should be scooped up in less than two weeks, now that the city has embarked on a $20-million push to not merely plough but remove the 50 centimeters-plus of snow that has fallen on city streets this month.

But residents along some of those streets will have to do their part – moving cars parked on the street or, in the case of those streets where there is parking on both sides, face “a friendly tow” of their cars to a nearby street. That will allow snow removal machinery to scour the roads, clearing off the snow-and-ice-rutted surface of the streets and removing the tall banks that are in danger of making some streets impassably narrow.

“Removal of snow is now necessary to protect public safety,” said Mayor David Miller at noon-hour Friday. “Currently on some streets traffic is impaired due to heavy snow. This also affects accessibility for our emergency and waste collection vehicles, and further snowfall would make this even more difficult.”

The city has been slowly removing snow from some streets since Feb. 8, but it’s been a laborious project. With continued cold temperatures, the city has had no help from the weather that would normally melt the snow away.

So this weekend, the 20 crews will be boosted to 83, and the city will begin clearing snow in earnest – concentrating on the parts of the city where the snow is causing the most problems, in the downtown core.

“We remove the snow from city streets in order of priority,” said Gary Welsh, Toronto’s General Manager of Transportation Services. “Streetcar routes come first, followed by arterial roads and then school areas and dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs, narrow local-roads and selected public laneways.”

The clearing of major roads and expressways has been going on for the past week, Welsh said – and the new push will be focussing on residential streets in the former City of Toronto, York and East York.

Miller also reminded the public to take some other measures to help clear streets and sidewalks.

“We’d like the citizens to help out by doing three things: first of all, clearing your walk if you haven’t yet,” said Miller. “It’s not only your duty, it’s helpful to everyone, particularly clearing around fire hydrants. Second, is moving your cars. And third, help your neighbours. That’s how we can keep the entire community safe.”

When it comes to the moving of cars, the city is making a number of accommodations. Residents will be given 48 hours notice to move their vehicles. Parking enforcement officers won’t ticket vehicles with parking permits that have parked outside their designated areas. And Green P parking lots near affected areas will offer free parking from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.

If there’s another significant snowfall, the city will delay the snow removal efforts until that snowfall is cleared up.

For more specific information on streets scheduled for snow removal, visit the city’s website for snow removal at www.toronto.ca/snow.