spider
Senior Member
Snow happens, the inconvenience it visits on people is managed in a variety of ways depending on many factors not the least of which in Toronto is the streetscape.
The streetscape varies widely in Toronto from wide streets with boulevards between the road and the sidewalk (if there is one) and no parked cars in the suburbs to narrow streets with adjacent sidewalks and legally parked cars. Back lanes, common downtown, provide another problem in that they are only 10’ wide and often are designed with right angle intersections that are not navigable by large vehicles.
In order to discuss the different methods of snow management we have to agree on a few basics such as the simple fact that snow plows do not remove snow from your street they merely relocate it from the road and sidewalk to a less troublesome area within the road allowance.
Actual snow removal is a separate operation usually reserved to arterial roads and bus stops that involves loaders and trucks days after the plows are gone.
Discontinuing â€windrow clearance service†currently enjoyed by many suburban citizens has been suggested as a money saver by the City, Having watched snow plow operators leave my driveway clear of snow for decades with no more effort than pushing a button I have to wonder if anyone down at City hall understands the process.
For those who have never seen these plows in action visualise a plow running down the street plowing snow from the road to the curb, when the operator comes to a driveway he drops a barrier board from a vertical position beside the cab to a position on the road surface parallel to the curb. The board prevents the snow coming off the plow blade from being deposited at the curb for the width of the driveway. At the end of the driveway the blade is raised and the snow is once more dumped at the curb.
The plow doesn’t slow down during this operation, no extra people or machinery are required, none, nada, bupkis. where is the $3.7 million to be cut?
This process should be referred to as windrow prevention, not windrow removal.
If a savings is sought they may take a look at sidewalk plowing protocals. My sidewalk is plowed, often in the night, when there is barely enough snow on the ground to show the plow tire tracks.
The streetscape varies widely in Toronto from wide streets with boulevards between the road and the sidewalk (if there is one) and no parked cars in the suburbs to narrow streets with adjacent sidewalks and legally parked cars. Back lanes, common downtown, provide another problem in that they are only 10’ wide and often are designed with right angle intersections that are not navigable by large vehicles.
In order to discuss the different methods of snow management we have to agree on a few basics such as the simple fact that snow plows do not remove snow from your street they merely relocate it from the road and sidewalk to a less troublesome area within the road allowance.
Actual snow removal is a separate operation usually reserved to arterial roads and bus stops that involves loaders and trucks days after the plows are gone.
Discontinuing â€windrow clearance service†currently enjoyed by many suburban citizens has been suggested as a money saver by the City, Having watched snow plow operators leave my driveway clear of snow for decades with no more effort than pushing a button I have to wonder if anyone down at City hall understands the process.
For those who have never seen these plows in action visualise a plow running down the street plowing snow from the road to the curb, when the operator comes to a driveway he drops a barrier board from a vertical position beside the cab to a position on the road surface parallel to the curb. The board prevents the snow coming off the plow blade from being deposited at the curb for the width of the driveway. At the end of the driveway the blade is raised and the snow is once more dumped at the curb.
The plow doesn’t slow down during this operation, no extra people or machinery are required, none, nada, bupkis. where is the $3.7 million to be cut?
This process should be referred to as windrow prevention, not windrow removal.
If a savings is sought they may take a look at sidewalk plowing protocals. My sidewalk is plowed, often in the night, when there is barely enough snow on the ground to show the plow tire tracks.
