In the wake of another snowstorm, Côte Saint-Luc’s Public Works Department is doing a fantastic job under trying circumstances.

A tractor clears snow on the Marc Chagall Avenue sidewalk.

Of course a lot of activity is taking place in our snow dump on Marc Chagall Avenue in my District 2. Over the weekend I fielded a lot of calls and e-mails from residents. One noted that the sidewalks had not been cleared and she had to walk her dog on the street – not a good situation on any day, especially when heavy trucks are going back and forth. I was able to get that message to Public Works and within an hour the sidewalk was cleared.

When I did my grocery shopping today, so many people came up to me to say how lucky we are to live in a community like Côte Saint-Luc where the snow removal system is so top notch.

“Our teams have been working non-stop with an excellent attitude, trouble shooting as they clear,” commented Public Works Director Beatrice Newman. “I have been all over (the city) this weekend and we are ahead of the game.”

Work by the city and our contractors concluded tonight at 8 pm. The bulldozers planned to work in the dump until 9 pm, with the mechanical shovel staying even later as it makes no noise. The amount of snow in the dump is massive, resembling a ski hill. And it is only mid-January! I understand the concerns of some residents who live near the dump and hear that annoying banging noise from the tractors and trucks. A few years ago we built a snow wall, which proved to double as a sound barrier. For some it is not good enough. As I have noted, we have a lot of contractors this can be difficult to resolve as the truck drivers change. The foreman delivers the message, but he has to repeat this every time new people come on site.

The hill at the snow dump is growing.

In the city so far we have opened all streets, cleared sidewalks on one side and have started the second side on some streets. Our contractors, Canbec and CMS, have completed about 85 percent of their sidewalks- both sides.

Parking lots and all municipal buildings have been completed.   City employees and contractors have been working well together well and have been dealing equally well with the very problematic issue we have with private contractors pushing resident snow into the streets right after we clean.  

“Congratulations to our foremen team and our Operations Manager John Monteiro, who have been very dedicated to making the magic happen,” Ms. Newman said. “We received 36 centimeters and together with some really nice residents who have contacted me personally with tips, our teams were able to take care of some issues quickly.”