When it comes to snow clearing, the City of Toronto appears to be hesitant to take full advantage of its resources, east-end residents are finding.
In a press release Feb. 1, the city said every effort will be made to plow snow to the curb, but, “based on the amount of snow and limited right of way storage capacity, certain curb lanes may be impacted.”
With 600 snow plows, 360 sidewalk plows and 200 salt trucks, it’s apparent the more than 1,500 contracted and staff members have the resources needed to get the job done.
But residence in the Toronto-Danforth are still experiencing an accumulation of snow and ice, creating hazardous driving conditions and unsafe sidewalks.
Most of the two-lane roads in the area have been reduced to one-lane, some even less.
Frustrated residents
As the snow and ice continue to pile up, some residents in the area feel the city’s snow removal efforts appear to be have been put on the back-burner.
Playter Estates resident Janelle Miller said she has had enough of clogged streets.
“The city’s efforts are surprisingly poor,” she said. “They clean one side of the street but not the other. You got half of the job done. It’s disappointing.”
Echoing this disappointment is Stacy Spankie, an employee in the Riverdale area. She doesn’t understand the lacking of cleaning efforts.
“This area is a tourist attraction spot. This should be one of the first areas to be cleared,” she said. “Other parts of the city, I can see them being behind. But such a busy area like this one shouldn’t be left in this condition.”
‘Historic amount of snow’
As of Jan. 31, the Toronto has removed more than 92,000 tons of snow from roads, sidewalks and bike lanes, making it the largest snow-removal operation in the city’s history.
In a newsletter Toronto-Danforth councillor Paula Fletcher she states work has been going on around the clock this week with a focus on addressing sidewalks and local roads.
“We received a historic amount of snow — more snow than the totals in January, February and March 2021 combined — and it had been taking longer than normal to complete removal operations,” she said in the newsletter. “This work is still in progress….”