Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Snowbound Update

Are they serious,4 (FOUR DAYS) to dig out,.......this is Montreal,for C--- Sakes ,not Victoria BC where we have one plow, don't believe a socalled 'Mega City ' can be this inept ,when they were an amalgamation of separate city's they removed snow far more efficiently than this bunch of Borroughs,....more like a bunch of Bull--00..well you know...................

MONTREAL – It will take more than four days to clean up the first major snowstorm of the season and city officials are urging residents to ease the clean-up by taking public transit Thursday.

If the snow tapers off Thursday as expected and the total accumulation is 25 centimetres as Environment Canada predicts, snow removal should start Thursday morning and take at least 96 hours, a city spokesperson said.

The city will focus first on removing snow on the 15 busiest bus routes, as well as on clearing certain narrow streets to ensure emergency vehicles can pass.

In the meantime, motorists are being asked not to park their cars on an angle in the streets, use free overnight parking lots provided by the city to keep the roads clear, and to take public transit if possible.

But some who took the metro Wednesday may be less inclined to do so Thursday because of slowdowns on the green and orange lines that were both completely unrelated to the storm.

Service was interrupted between 5:08 and 6:07 p.m. on the orange line between Lionel Groulx and Côte Vertu stations and very slow on the rest of that line after several trains had to be evacuated because a smoke alarm went off. The green line was slow for about half an hour at around 1:30 p.m. Because of an electrical shortage. Delays on some bus lines, such as routes 124 in Westmount and 107 on Peel St., also were reported Wednesday morning, mainly because of buses being rerouted around hills too slippery to climb.

The storm caused more headaches at the Trudeau airport. Aéroports de Montréal spokesperson Frederick Wallace said at least 94 flights were cancelled Wednesday.

Wallace said about 30 of those cancellations were signalled Tuesday night before the storm.

“Our international flights are all taking off tonight, although they are delayed by the de-icing,” Wallace said.

“Things should start to pick up now, since the tarmac is clear and there is no waiting at all right now at the de-icing centre,” he added at about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Road conditions were passable on the island during the worst of it Wednesday afternoon and evening, although visibility was reduced.

A collision between a truck and two cars at about 9:21 p.m. Wednesday night has forced the closure of three of four lanes on Highway 40 eastbound, at Côte Vertu Blvd. A spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec said no one was injured in that collision.

No other major problems or collisions were reported by the Sûreté du Québec as of 8:45 Wednesday night. Some off-island routes, such as Highway 30 on the South Shore between Contrecoeur and the Eastern Townships Autoroute had been labelled by Transport Quebec as “critical,” with reduced visibility and icy conditions.

More than 3,000 municipal and contract workers and almost 1,000 pieces of snow removal equipment are expected to be on the streets Thursday.

“It’s very difficult to say exactly how long (snow removal) will take,” said Valérie De Gagné, spokesperson for the city.

She said a snow dump of 20 centimetres generally takes about 96 hours to clean up, but she added that estimate can change if there is freezing rain or other weather issues.

“We don’t know if there is more snow coming on the weekend, whether there is rain, and each borough has different conditions,” she said.

At the moment, the weather seems to be playing along. Thursday’s forecast calls for two to four centimetres of snow, and the following three days are expected to be sunny with only scattered flurries.

To check the status of flights departing from and arriving at Trudeau airport, click here

Via Rail officials said the train company would be adding extra cars to trains where possible in anticipation of added demand due to snow and freezing rain forecasts for Quebec and Ontario. VIA says its trains are running normally, but expects a bump in demand.

To meet it, the railway is adding extra cars to trains where possible and urging travellers to get their tickets sooner rather than later.

For more information you can go to viarail.ca or call 514-989-2626.

To find out locations of free overnight parking offered by the city of Montreal, go to http://www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/deneigement or call 311. About 6,200 spaces are available between 6 p..m. and 7 a.m.

mlalonde@thegazette.canwest.com

 
 
 
 
 

10 comments:

Les F said...

Does anyone mind this Verdun Avenue shot appearing under the familiar Verdun Connecftions logo ? I know on the old site,we would sometimes have some change ups on the front page,perhaps we can showcase a different shot every once in a while like we used to ? but keeping the Verdun Connections logo at the top.

HF&RV

Sandy Walsh said...

That's a good idea - and for anyone who wanders by who is not familiar with Verdun, they can get a little idea of what it looks like - you certainly have a lot of material to work with

Sandy Walsh said...

IS ANYBODY OUT THERE? damn and blast - as they say in jolly olde England - lol. What a bunch!

Les F said...

Viewed 67 times by 38 people, latest at 5:50 PM
Not great but not that bad for a non-issue type of post,. I would like to see more participation,but I do see a lot of readership,& I've got to stay with my original thoughts & beliefs,that All participation is appreciated ,regardless of posting or reading..........We do appreciate the people cruising by,even those who are not members,that just means that we have an interesting theme,where people went out of their way to search for Verdun related stuff, & found us.......That's fine ,but don't be so humble .we would really like to see your photos & hear your stories too........... or Just Look for Old Friends,you may or may not find them,...but you just might make some..Cheers , HF&RV

Les F said...

http://www.montrealcam.com/en-svpm.html

Click on the link to see the outdoor rink in the Old Port area of Montreal (also once there,click on the actual picture & it will become Full Screen...............................................................HF&RV

Sandy Walsh said...

It looks really big - I betcha it's cold out there right now - it's freezing here tonight and windy - nasty - but it's supposed to go to 40 F tomorrow and no wind.

walter krysiak said...

living in verdun for 2 months now, you see the good stuff, but the darkside of verdun is bigger then even,
3 pawn shops on wellington and the shops are busy with people pawning stuff.
during the day the streets are full of cars, snow removal crazy all tow trucks towing away the cars
verdun avenue no problem for parking because of parking machines, 2 dollars for 1.5 hoiur
that bingo restaurant a crowd of everything packed, you want to find someone go the bingo restaurant
you will find all the info there.
every other day, while eating at new verdun, you see cops hiding then catching a person watching the red lite anf ticket the person for j walking.
a person on welfare getting a ticket walking the red lite, going after the poor people, i like them cops to go to westmonut and ticket those people.
hiring some workers in verdun, you get all the dirty laundry of whats really going on in verdun,
i found a few old freinds in new verdun, working as teachers good to see people doing well.
some are telling they keep raising the rents to get rid of the drug dealers and the bums, they are hoping to clean up the place, for better valve of properties, nuns island is a island alone.
verdun is verdun in my thinking will it became a middle class area like the beaches in toronto???
not in our lifetime anyways.
so those that miss verdun, i understand, i miss it also but going there for a while, you aren't missing much.

Keith Harrison said...

Perhaps you should call in the army like we did here in Toronto......and never live it down !!

Les F said...

Funny you mention that, I was just kidding a friend of mine yesterday,while talking about snow removal,he was trying to tell me Montreal had terrible snow removal back in the 60's & 70's while he was visiting there from toronto...but the only time I recall Montreal having a real job keeping up,was in '71 when we were experiencing a slow winter(snow wise) & so the city loaned NYC half of the snow removal equipment & of course ,then the big dump came .and we got hammered good,.but when he suggested the toronto had better snow removal ,I said "Yes but you have the army to help"......hahahaha
Although i do understand that since the merger (money grab) that many services have been adversly affected,one of them being the snow removal system being unorganized (otherthan the organized crime part of it) lol...........

HF&RV

Les F said...

Here is an interactive map,that details where to park, when the snow is 30cm or more, also shows the snow removal routes ,and also the dump sites.........
http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=5637,30819577&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

click on each choice, & it will show up on the map........ HF&RV