The Place To Go If You Love Snow

North Bay   Jan.15/2017

The city has started clearing banks nearly a month earlier than usual due to the whack of snow that's already fallen so far this winter.

Nick Schiavone, the city's director of public works, said Friday that snow removal on some streets has already taken place during the day, including Fisher and Sixth and Fourth avenues.

And, he said, night crews will be doing a full blitz of the downtown starting Sunday, hitting areas including Oak, Main and McIntyre streets, along with Cassells and John streets.

“We're definitely starting early,” said Schiavone, noting full street removal doesn't typically get underway until early February.

He said the public works department started to receive calls from residents about snowbanks. But Schiavone said calls in recent days have been more about road conditions.

He said rain, snow and a change in temperature this week have created icy and snow-packed conditions. But Schiavone said the city is hoping to get the roads cleaned up over the next few days, noting salting was taking place Friday thanks to clear skies and some sunshine.

“We can only salt when conditions are appropriate,” he said, noting the city relies mostly on sand. “People are,  for the most part, pretty understanding.”

Schiavone said it's too early to tell how taxing the heavy snow so far this winter will be on the winter control budget, noting much will depend on the conditions that come with the remainder of the season.

A meteorologist with The Weather Network recently told The Nugget that the network is standing by its prediction for the area of a more “traditional” winter, which usually comes with a two-metre accumulation between Dec. 1 and March 1.

The city spends approximately $2.7 million on winter control. A small surplus from 2016 is anticipated. And Schiavone said it will be up to council to decide how the surplus is used. In the past, he said, surpluses have gone into a reserve fund to be used to help offset increased costs brought on by harsher winters.