Snow removal concerns

Dear Mayor Danyluk,

We would like to express our concerns about the state of snow clearing in our Town of Mont-Royal(TMR). While it is understood that removing snow from the all the streets of TMR is quite the undertaking after a given snowstorm, we cannot help but notice the decline in the efficiency of this task over the past few years.

We are family of five living at the corner of Graham Boulevard and Clyde Road, since 1994. My wife has been a TMR resident since ten years before that. I believe you were also serving as mayor of TMR then, so I'm sure you have an idea of what we are concerned about.

This morning (Tuesday, February 5, 2008) we are about three days after a big snowstorm not overtly huge, somewhat large, but certainly not what could be described as "major".

At the start of rush hour, around 7h15, we observed the snow clearing crews start working on moving and blowing snow into dump trucks along the length of Clyde, during which no traffic was allowed access to this street. As you are no doubt aware, turning right from Graham onto Clyde is probably one of the busiest corners in TMR, the most popular way to leave TMR to head downtown. As a result of this blockage, we witnessed traffic being re-routed to we don't know where, and an école Saint-Clément school bus and the STM 16 bus being delayed for up to ten minutes. Our oldest child relies on that STM 16 bus to catch a train at Parc station to get to her secondary school--a ten minute delay assures a missed train and being late for school.

Later at 9h, my wife drove our two younger boys to Dunrae Gardens. Unfortunately parking was nowhere to be found anywhere in the vicinity of the school: only the "no parking" side of Dunrae Avenue was cleared; while Dobie Avenue was untouched (not even the sidewalks), as indicated by all the other school children walking down the middle of the road. Meanwhile parents transporting their children were also driving down those same streets searching in vain for places to park their cars--since there were none they ended up leaving their cars temporarily in front of driveways.

This unfortunately is not exceptional. These situations have systematically arisen after every so-called "major" snowfall this winter season.

Back when we first moved in, a "major" snowfall had to be at least 50cm to actually strike fear into the hearts of Montrealers. Snow removal crews would work all night to get the roads clear for the following morning's rush hour traffic. We used to mock other winter cities like Toronto for calling in the army to help dig them out. When ex-Montrealers in Toronto heard I was moving to Montreal, they would regale me with tales of how they would leave their homes from the second floor balcony because snowstorms in the early 70's deposited enough snow to block their front doors from opening. While other cities would grind to halt, no amount of snow could stop Montreal from shutting down.

Today, I feel our bragging rights have been somewhat compromised. Days after the last snowflakes has fallen, only Graham Boulevard and Laird Boulevard show any evidence of having been touched by a snowplow. We see major TMR streets being cleared during rush hour--this could have and should have be done overnight. Our newly minted "corridor scolaire" streets should also be given the same level of priority for snow clearing for the sake of our children's safety.

At the last TMR mayoral elections, we were, quite frankly, both happy and relieved to see your name on the ballot t us, you represented a real and valid choice for that office. We are writing to you because we believe you, as mayor of TMR, can take action to address our concerns.

We look forward to your response. Thank you for your time and understanding,



Ronald Pau and Karen Vigny, Town of Mount Royal residents