Winter arrived in force over the past week, and with it came the critics of snow control on local roadways.
Social media was abuzz as usual, with some commenting the salt trucks were too slow to get out on local roads, leaving them slick for much of Dec. 8, while others complained that snowplows went out for little or no reason.
Miguel Pelletier, director of public works for the municipality, just shrugs off the conflicting complaints. He said the crews on the 56 snowplow/salter trucks and 21 graders used for snow control were ready for the first snowfall. As well, Pelletier said there are five contract plows that are used to clear some of the more isolated roads in the municipality – “some farmers have their own plows.”
“Usually, we’ve been preparing for this for a few weeks. Operators were learning their routes and practicing,” he said. “When we finally got our first bit of snow and ice, the guys were ready.”
The graders are utilized on rural gravel roads, while the plow/salters are generally used to clear the asphalt roads of the municipality. They operate out of nine different Public Works garages in Chatham-Kent. In each garage, Pelletier said supervisors pay close attention to customized weather forecasts.
There is more to the snow removal process than reacting to Mother Nature, Pelletier said. They look at statistics and trends over longer-term history rather than from year to year.
“If you go from one year to the other, it fluctuates too much,” Pelletier said. “I take several years of statistics and I look at the trend. I also look at the (Farmers’) Almanac for guidance as well.”
As for the complaints of being out too early or too late, Pelletier said his crews follow provincial road maintenance guidelines.
“That’s what we follow to decide when to deploy,” he said.
In terms of which roads get priority plowing, Pelletier said each garage has a preset route.
“Roads are prioritized. Higher volume roads and ones with bus routes get higher priority,” he said. “But one garage may get to something faster than another.”
All the garages, routes and roadways are at the mercy of the weather, which can vary widely from place to place in Chatham-Kent.
“One thing to consider is that the weather isn’t the same across the municipality,” Pelletier said.
But the response guidelines are, so when thresholds are met, the plows go out.
The late-arriving winter weather following last year’s warm winter has left the annual $4.7 million snow removal budget in decent shape. Then again, Sunday’s storm was an expensive one.
“All it takes is one of those 20-centimetre snowstorms and we could look at $500,000 (in snow removal costs),” he said.
As for 2017’s budget, Pelletier said it is still in the works, as it will go before council as part of the budgetary process.
On top of annual budgets, there is also a winter control reserve. It is typically funded by years where there was low snowfall and leftover funding.
