Move snow, don’t dump it on sidwalks
I agree with Gary Robinson (Citizen, Jan. 15), who suggests we should collect snow and move it to the lake rather than shoving it to the side of the road, although perhaps just dumping it in the river would be more practical. I admit, however, that my motives are more selfish than his, having nothing to do with low water levels in the lake and everything to do with the sight that greeted me this morning.
The last few days of powdery snow have been a wonderful bonding time for us in our new neighbourhood. From the neighbour who attached a plow to his 4X4 and cleared the sidewalks early, full length on both sides of the street, so that we only had to shovel a few inches rather than a foot of snow, to chatting with others while taking a break from shovelling, to being out-shovelled by the 90-year-old next door, everyone was in a good mood as we faced the monster together.
This morning, I looked forward to seeing clear sidewalks for a walk into town, expecting the overnight rain to have washed away the dusting of snow that was left. Instead, city snowplows had been by to widen the cleared area of the street, burying the sidewalks in two feet of wet, dirty, heavy snow. Any trace of the shovelling we and our neighbours had done was gone, and we were all out again this morning, except that it was four times the amount of work because it was no longer fresh and powdery. The mood on the street was, like the snow, as heavy as it had been light over the last few days.
Removing the snow, as is done in other parts of Canada, is a safer alternative. Shoving it onto the sidewalks, aside from the annoyance factor to homeowners, forces pedestrians to either walk in unsafe conditions on the sidewalks or move onto the streets, which negates any purpose in widening the clearing.
Despite our reputation as a mild climate, snows like this one have happened almost every year since we moved from the mainland seven years ago, often lasting for several weeks. It’s time it was acknowledged and handled better.
Judith Appleby
Duncan