Snow removal: How it works (and how you can make it a little easier)

Ever wondered just how the city's public works department tackles all the snow Sault Ste. Marie gets each winter?

SooToday sat down with the head of public works, who laid it all out for us.

“We’re all working towards the same goal here, we all have to get rid of the snow,” said Mike Lebel, the city's superintendent of public works.

When snow hits, public works will wait for five centimetres to build up and then dispatches a snow removal army made up of 11 truck plows, seven grader plows, seven loaders, nine trackless plows, and five salt/sander trucks.

During a ‘snow event’ two shifts of operators work these 39 vehicles to remove all the snow off the roads, lane ways, bus stops, and about 70 percent of the sidewalks in the city.  

When accounting for multiple lane roadways, Public Works is responsible for keeping 1207 km of driving lane clear in the Sault

When they are clearing snow banks, a typical night shift might haul 250 truck loads.

“One of the common questions I get is ‘When are you are you coming to take the snow banks away?’ said Lebel.

Lebel said public works doesn't give any neighbourhoods special treatment and roads are cleared strictly based on how they rank in a pre-established priority system.

The ranking is based on traffic volume and speed as well as general safety considerations like if it is a high wind area that needs to be re-sanded frequently.

Public Works has prioritised roads into three categories: main roads, arterials and collector roads, and residential streets. 

Priority 1 areas include roads like Second Line and Great Northern Road, while most cross streets downtown are Priority 2 areas, and Priority 3 areas are usually sub-division streets.

Under regular conditions public works will have every street plowed within 12 hours of a snow event however when the city is hit hard they will spend extra time keeping main roads open which can create delays for lower priority areas.

“Even with snow bank removal we do it based on priorities. We do the downtown core first. That takes one whole week. If you call me and say I am on Second Line when are you going to take the snow banks away? Well it’s going to be at least a week away because I’ve got to deal with the downtown core first,” said Lebel.

Lebel said people often call up to complain when the plows push snow onto their driveway. 

“When we plow snow we do not clean driveways, that’s just the result of plowing. There are some exceptions. If we hit the bank because our truck or grader gets too close and breaks off a big snowball and it rolls into your driveway we’ll remove that, we’re not heartless,” he said. 

If public works pushes more than two feet of snow or ice onto a driveway they will clear it, other than that, its up to the property owner.

“Sometimes residents don’t want you to plow their driveway so they’ll stick their car out on the road just enough so that you have to go around them. Sometimes at night we’ll stop and call the police and ask them to ticket and tow them… but even still if he has to sit there and wait for a police officer to arrive and tow the vehicle he loses an hour on his beat which causes delays for everyone else,” said Lebel.

Lebel said that other city residents block the sidewalks that cross their driveways with their vehicles and this in turn can prevent plows form being able to make the sidewalk clear and safe for pedestrians. 

“What about the person that is handicapped and needs a motorized wheelchair, or elderly people? We make people aware that if there is a hazard here you will be liable for that and we’ll take a picture and give them a letter,” he said. 

Public works is allotted a $6.6 million budget for winter snow removal by city council.