HRM snow removal under budget for 2018-19 winter
Posted Mar 25, 2019 05:30:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The winter of 2018-19 is history, and municipal staff in Halifax are calculating the financial impact of snow- and ice-clearing work done during the season.
Figures provided by city hall staff Monday said as of the end of February, the municipality spent slightly more than $20 million of the roughly $24.2 million budgeted for winter operations in fiscal 2018-19.
The previous winter, staff said, $22.7 million of the program’s $22.8-million budget was spent.
According to the municipality’s website, in-house and contracted workers are responsible for removing snow from 3,844 kilometres of streets. “Crews also clear about 1,000 kilometres of sidewalks and approximately 2,300 bus stops across the Halifax region,” it says.
Roads and sidewalks are supposed to be cleared in accordance with the municipality’s priority levels.
As in past years, sidewalk snow- and ice-removal efforts over the winter were found wanting by many local residents and some municipal councillors. The state of sidewalks under foot in parts of the municipality sometimes ranged from challenging to dangerous – to barely accessible.
Hospital emergency departments this year were busy, at times, with patients needing treatment for fall-related injuries.
Coun. Waye Mason (Halifax South Downtown) said early this month he had received hundreds of complaints from people in his district, during one particular week, linked to terrible sidewalk conditions, CBC News reported on March 7.
Coun. Shawn Cleary (Halifax West Armdale) said “we’re shooting ourselves in the foot” with municipal snow- and ice-removal timelines and standards geared toward winter storms that leave drier, all-snow accumulation, as opposed to the “snow/rain/freeze cycle” the Halifax region often gets.
“If you let that sit for 10, 12, 14, 24 hours, then it’s almost impossible to get rid of,” he told NEWS 95.7 last Saturday.
Contractors who missed snow-clearing deadlines during the past winter are to be penalized, city hall has said.
Snow-removal work on municipal roads and sidewalks has been a regular source of public complaints and debate for years now. The seasonal topic is an annual one on radio talk shows and social media, and in newspaper letters to the editor.
In 2015, the municipality wanted to examine its winter-operations program, and sought an independent review of its snow clearing. Prior to that, CBC News said, a similar review was done in 2008.
A communications staffer told HalifaxToday.ca Monday that “a complete review of service standards” is happening. It’s part of the municipality’s Transportation and Public Works business plan.
Michael Lightstone is a freelance reporter living in Dartmouth
